Ticks and Lyme's Disease

[Sviatoslav Tulin]

On 24/06/2025 at 13:12, Steven P said:

It is also a slow burner - might not affect you right away but a couple of weeks after

 

 

 

I'd also make a reminder while we are here about Weils disease if you've been working near water particularly and feel unwell. They were the 2 we were meant to tell the doctor about if we needed to go.

It can be live long condition , I think vaccine exist? 🤔 

[Tree monkey 1682]

12 hours ago, Sviatoslav Tulin said:

It can be live long condition , I think vaccine exist? 🤔 

Don't think so bud ,I might be completely wrong ...but by the time uk docs find out what it is ...most of the time it's too late as it often behaves like a regular fever .. nothing distinctive 

[doobin]

13 hours ago, Haironyourchest said:

Best type of tick tweezers, the slightly curved ones. The hook ones are more for engorged ticks on pets.

 

The finer tte point the better. I acquired some from a surgical supply place and they could still use some sharpening. Can't be pointy enough.

 

They do good for ticks, excellent for embedded thorns, blackthorn, briar etc. better than digging out with a needle, I can nearly go straight in and grab the thorn most times.

 

Sold as I grown hair tweezers..

 

Never had a tick on me (to the best of my knowledge) but I've just ordered five pairs of combined fine curved tweezers/slotted tool so I can keep a set in every vehicle.

[openspaceman]

3 hours ago, doobin said:

Never had a tick on me (to the best of my knowledge) but I've just ordered five pairs of combined fine curved tweezers/slotted tool so I can keep a set in every vehicle.

Just tucking your trousers into your socks cuts the risk of one getting in. They tend to climb up until they find a warm moist bit to settle in to. So far none this year, and I cut bracken daily, 5 on me last year before I took this simple precaution. 

 

I'm fairly certain some migrate onto me from the lap dog.

[roys]

I prefer to call my dog “the ginger tick magnet” took 6 of her yesterday, averaging about 3 or 4 a day just now, I use the V shaped plastic tick tool and twist away.

[green heart]

 

Well done sime42, for sharing some vital information with us all.

 

Writing as a (non medical) lay-person/contractor, I'd like to point out what I'd consider to be some important misnomers, mentioned in the many  responses. 

 

Ticks are dispersed across the UK by ground nesting birds and mamals 

-including domesticated livestock AND deer.

So the presence of deer is, really, fairly irrelevant to the risk of infection. 

 

Ticks are good at hiding in your cast off work/leisure clothes (for several days or more) -and wandering around in search of potential hosts!

So your partner/family members are also at slight risk.

 

Only 'some' of the people bitten by ticks will have a 'bullseye' -or display any/some of the other typical symptoms, in the first few weeks of an infection starting..

Hence the value of a quick daily tick-check !

 

Though ticks can carry several  different pathogens -some folk do mysteriously survive bites/infections with just an apparently healthy immune system(!). Maybe they are just very lucky.

Would you play Russian roulette, on a daily basis? 

 

If you work, garden or exercise in green space ( that's most of us!) and were surprised by ANY of the above points -I would implore you to spend 15 minutes looking on the Lyme disease UK website -it might save you, or a loved one, a lot of unnecessary future medical misery! 

 

I think needle point tweezers, as previously mentioned, are the dogs-danglies for removing ticks.

 

-Apologies in advance for any factually incorrect advice! 

 

[josharb87]

Just finished antibiotics for it last week, tick on the back of the leg, came out cleanly, a month later the original swelling returned and grew, a quick video chat with the dr and 10 days of 3 a day antibiotics prescribed 

 

mental number of ticks here in Sweden though 

 

the tick vaccine here is for TBE (virus), not Lymes disease (bacteria based infection) as I understand 

[Bill C]

Lymes is not nice, Symptoms are not always shown, other than you just feel really bad. If you start to feel ill after taking out a Tick have a blood test done. A course of antibiotics started as soon as possible should cure you (but not always). I think there are two antibiotics used for Lymes one is not nice, the other I'm never taking again, it had a few very bad after effects and took me off my feet for four days.

[kram]

It seems to me the biggest risk of ticks is not from areas with deer or grass but dogs and their walkers.

[Rich Rule]

Well I spotted something behind my youngest son’s knee today.

 

Best be safe so I grabbed my phone to take picture and zoom in.

 

Bloody tick, the fancy snare type remover worked a charm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

got the head out and then wrapped it in bog role and cremated the little bastard.