Tick deep

IluvCoffee,

You forgot about it? Well, you can do what we did when I was growing up in Indiana. Every summer evening, we checked each other for any ticks. We would just grab them close to the skin and pull. Sometimes, a small piece of skin would come off with them, if they had been embedded for a long time. Occasionally a small red area would appear. But, I don't know of any of us kids getting an infection from the tick bites.

If you read about removing ticks they get all excited and talk about using tweezers and not squeezing the body of the tick. Then they say to save it, to take to the doctor. I don't know, I guess you can get as excited as you want. By now, if you were going to pick up any diseases from the tick, it's already too late. And the chances of picking up a disease (tick fever, tick paralysis, rocky mountain spotted fever, lyme disease, and about 10 others) are actually very, very small compared to the number of tick bites that occur every year.

After removal, keep the area clean with soap and water. It may be a little red for awhile. The only reason to see a doctor is in the small chance that you develop an infection.

Of course, you should see a physician if you have any concerns.