Lyme Disease - Can A Tick Bite Ruin Your Holidays?
by: DorothyYamich |
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Vacationers, campers, and travelers alike can be at risk for contracting Lyme disease, a serious, debilitating condition caused by being bitten by an infected tick.
What are the common symptoms of Lyme disease?
Some symptoms of Lyme disease are the classic bull's-eye red rash, fatigue or loss of energy, feeling sleepy, tingling and numbness, swollen and painful joints, memory loss, and feeling like you are catching the flu. Facial paralysis is a less common symptom.
Getting Lyme disease can make your life miserable and cause you a lot of pain and suffering if it is not diagnosed and treated immediately. The longer you wait before seeing a health care professional allows this disease to progress quickly and it may not be possible to lessen it's effects.
How is Lyme disease most commonly spread?
Ticks bite and feed on animals such as mice, other small rodents, and deer. If any of these animals are carrying the Lyme disease bacteria, they can pass the bacteria on to the ticks. When people are bitten by an infected tick they may contract Lyme disease.
How can you reduce the chance of getting Lyme disease?
As some people do not have symptoms right away, prevention is the best policy. When you travel in the spring through summer months to or through areas where deer, mice, other rodents and animals live, the following are some things you should do.
If you plan to camp when you are on vacation or holidays, you can reduce the number of ticks around your campsite by removing a lot of the brush and leaves debris. If you wear light colored clothing you can more easily see these extremely tiny black insects and remove them before they attach to and burrow your skin. Always wear long-sleeved shirts and tuck them into your pants, and also tuck your pant cuffs in your socks. It is great idea to wear rubber boots because ticks are usually found close to the ground. You can also get them in your hair if you brush against leaves on a low hanging tree branch. Wearing a light-colored, wide-brimmed hat may also help. Be sure to check your scalp and skin carefully as ticks can easily be overlooked, particularly in your hair. Apply a DEET containing insect repellent to your clothes and exposed skin, as well as permethrin, an insecticide and insect repellent, to your clothes. That will also help.
How can you remove ticks safely?
Ticks that have burrowed and lodged themselves under your skin can be removed by using small-tipped tweezers. Make sure that you don't leave any part of the tick remaining underneath your skin. When the tick has been completely removed, disinfect the wound thoroughly with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. Remember that you are not totally out of the woods yet as symptoms can take several days, even weeks before any show. Using tweezers is the only safe way to remove ticks that have attached or burrowed into your skin or scalp. Don't try to remove ticks using burnt matches, petroleum jelly, or alcohol as this will only make the ticks release more of the bacteria into your blood stream.
Please note that at the present time there is no vaccine available for Lyme disease.
According to the Center For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) this bacterial disease is under reported, perhaps by more than over 100,000 cases per year in the U.S. alone. You can visit cdc.gov for more information on Lyme disease.
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