How afraid should we be of ticks and Lyme disease?

[Roobell7]

Article in The Guardian starting with the Matt Dawson diagnosis and leading into ????

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... WEML6619I2

[whitestone]

I grew up on a farm and regularly picked up ticks. It's not every tick that carries the disease, it seems to be particular areas that are more prone to it.

Give yourself a check over when you get home and remove any found (I've seen comments to the effect that there's a 36hr window to do this) and then keep an eye on the area for the rash and be aware of any symptoms.

Basically be wary but don't be worried or scared.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Exactly what Bob says - a potential risk but on the grand scale, it's a very small one. Certainly a far greater risk of making yourself ill through bad water, injuring yourself in a crash or alien abduction ... the Berwyns are famous for it which I think might be the reason for so few black badges on the 2015 BB200.

[Kumquat]

Use a tick fork
They are cheap.
The main thing is to avoid stressing the tick-causing it to disgorge any potentially infected blood into you.
So
Dont smush the the tick or spray it with anything or smother it with anything.
Or expose it to flame.

[bearlymoving]

I picked up a couple in the outer hebrides this year, and dropped into a medical practice for advice. The GP was really on it, and had spent a hell of a lot of effort researching it. I think this summarises the key points he put on the practice hand out:

• Ticks usually go looking for cover before biting you, so look for them under waste bands, in folds of skin, etc (though I did find a naïve tick biting my shin).
• The bacteria that causes the Lyme’s disease lives in a tick’s gut, not its saliva.
• Nothing in the gut mixes with your blood stream during the first 24 hours of a tick's feeding frenzy, so you’re therefore unable to contract Lyme’s disease from a tick that hasn’t been attached for more than a day…
• …unless you make a balls up of removing it, causing it to vomit into your blood stream.

An O'Tom Tick Twister did the job nicely.

[ScotRoutes]

Bit of an occupational hazard, especially for those of us prone to bitey insects. I've had Lyme twice, both spotted early and treated with antibiotics. It doesn't affect my decision to go riding, running or walking.

I will pause occasionally when out to pick off any that are still crawling. I always have a thorough check in the shower - and repeat as they have a habit of appearing after a couple of days.

I also spray my legs with Smidge (other repellents with Saltidin/Picardin are available). That has considerably reduced the number of feeders from maybe a dozen per year to one or two.

[whitestone]

Ticks vary in size and not just due to them engorging themselves on your blood. The young ones are slightly smaller than the bullet point below and are very hard to see by eye, you only really tell that they are there once attached and there's an ever so slight bump, almost like a scab that just "catches".

• <- size of small tick

They are pretty easy to spot when crawling over your skin in search of an attachment point.

Before the tweezers became available we'd twist them off, the discussion was whether a clockwise or counter clockwise twist was better.

[Roobell7]

I must be lucky, or untasty as in all my years of bog-trotting I've never picked one up

Just a case of when, not if...

[Wotsits]

I think the important thing is to be aware & know what to look for. I've also been treated for Lymes & it was horrible, knocked me for a good 6 months, a real low point..

All good advice above, especiallly from Colin..

They really can be tiny & difficult to spot if you don't know what you're looking for. These are 2 stow-aways i found on me last year (thats a penny btw)-



I find that they quite often must end up in the top of my sock & then attach themselves around the ankle area. Found one there after last weekends trip to the lakes!

[Wotsits]

I also find that 'blackhead' curved tip tweezers are a lot better than the plastic tick twisters for removing them. You can get them from most chemists for 2-3 quid & are a lot better for getting the really tiny ones out..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/blackhead-twee ... %20tweezer

[Zippy]

I actually bought my own tick remover tweezers from go outdoors yesterday!

Having not actually come across any attached to me yet - I'm most worried about not spotting them.

It's the "bullseye" rash to look out for afterwards -and then get tested pronto.

Good link for tweezers Jase - they look good.

[ScotRoutes]

I actually bought my own tick remover tweezers from go outdoors yesterday!

Having not actually come across any attached to me yet - I'm most worried about not spotting them.

It's the "bullseye" rash to look out for afterwards -and then get tested pronto.

Good link for tweezers Jase - they look good.

The rash doesn't always happen. If you've removed a feeder then you really need to keep a close eye on your general health for a couple of weeks. any "flu-like" symptoms, including lethargy and I'd pop along to your GP. They might offer you a test but they are non-conclusive and if you've ever had Lyme in the past then you'll show up positive in any case. The antibiotics will mean you should avoid strong sunlight for a couple of weeks and can make you feel even more crap. Indeed, it can be hard to tell if it's Lyme that's knocking you out or the medication

[Zippy]

Hmm, food for though, thanks Colin.

I was also reading that after you've removed a Tick - that testing should actually be a couple of weeks later or so otherwise it might be a false negative. Dunno how true that is? I did also read that a lot of GPs don't really know much about Lyme's disease either...

Anyone know of a source of information for areas more prone to Lyme's disease or not?

[ScotRoutes]

Hmm, food for though, thanks Colin.

I was also reading that after you've removed a Tick - that testing should actually be a couple of weeks later or so otherwise it might be a false negative. Dunno how true that is?

Correct.

I did also read that a lot of GPs don't really know much about Lyme's disease either...

Anyone know of a source of information for areas more prone to Lyme's disease or not?

I guess we're lucky. In both Edinburgh and Aviemore I've had GPs that were very aware of Lyme.

[whitestone]

It's likely to be the case that a GP in a rural area will be more aware. Different GPs get interested in different things just the same as the rest of us. A GP in the South Lakes that I used was aware of tropical intestinal diseases for example. I suppose it made a change from dealing with OAPs who were the vast majority of his patients.

[sean_iow]

These areas on the NHS website

Exmoor
the New Forest and other rural areas of Hampshire
the South Downs
parts of Wiltshire and Berkshire
parts of Surrey and West Sussex
Thetford Forest in Norfolk
the Lake District
the North York Moors
the Scottish Highlands

Source here

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Lyme-disea ... .aspx#risk

[Zippy]

Thanks all - I was aware of areas likely for Ticks as listed - I guess the data doesn't exist for actual areas of likelihood for Lyme's disease.

Wales ironically looks lower risk on this lovely map: http://www.bigtickproject.co.uk/ticks-i ... hreat-map/

[Bearbonesnorm]

Wales ironically looks lower risk on this lovely map

We generally get very few Zippy.

[Moder-dye]

Just to add from my post a few weeks back. If you get bitten by a tick and are unlucky it can result in an allergic reaction to red meat, even as bad as anaphylaxis some hours after eating. If it does happen you'll need to avoid red/mammalian meat for some considerable time.

Heard it discussed on the radio with a deer stalker who had the reaction and had to carry an epipen, but then decided just to avoid the meat. Not so common in the UK but does happen and not an obvious link to the tick bite.

[dlovett]

Hampshire and West Sussex, great something else to worry about. And North York Moors, even more to worry about on the YD.

These areas on the NHS website

Exmoor
the New Forest and other rural areas of Hampshire
the South Downs
parts of Wiltshire and Berkshire
parts of Surrey and West Sussex
Thetford Forest in Norfolk
the Lake District
the North York Moors
the Scottish Highlands

Source here

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Lyme-disea ... .aspx#risk

[whitestone]

The YD200 goes nowhere near the North York Moors, well I hope it doesn't as it's quite a way across the Vale of York and back

[Cheeky Monkey]

I've had a few and am often removing them from the dog. As others have said they are fond of the dark, warm and moist areas - my most alarming was one I "picked up" whilst in the Borders and had attached to the end of my todger. I mention that because a) it's kinda funny and b) so people realise they can get "anywhere".

Proper tools are well worth it to ease removal and I favour tick-removal-tweezers, like these (particularly the arrangement at the tips):



With tweezers the advice is to pull straight out rather than twisting. Twisting theoretically means loosening your grip which *might* allow the tick when stressed or squeezed to discharge through it's mouth parts (which is a bad thing). This is mostly avoided if you keep the tweezers "gripped" (assuming you've got the tips as close to the skin as possible):



You might be surprised how firm a tug they take to remove (cue fnar re: previous attachment point )

[Richard G]

I've always been sure to scrub with one of those shower puff thingies after riding to reduce the likelihood these are attached to me, though obviously that's not quite so easy to do on a multi day ride.

[ScotRoutes]

Shaving your legs would be a good idea too.

[Richard G]

Wax or nothing.