Lyme Disease prevention: the Tick Check
Blog vol 2. 49. Lyme Disease prevention: the Tick Check.
This is our third spring since starting the blog on a drafty April morning during the start of a global epidemic. Time to get out of the house, breathe in the fresh air, and enjoy the great outdoors.
Only one caveat: be careful, those nasty spirochetes that carry Lyme Disease are still out there.
The incidence of Lyme disease continues to increase. Bear with me as I go through my annual rant on prevention. It really is important. This is a potentially devastating disease which can be prevented with a few simple precautions.
How do we get Lyme Disease?
You catch it usually from a Deer Tick that is carrying the spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi.
What to do?
1. When outdoors, especially in wooded areas, use bug spray with at least 20% DEET.
2. After outdoor activity, check your body for any clinging ticks. Make a “tick check” part of your routine when coming inside.
The chance of contracting the disease increases the longer the tick is attached to the body. When you find a tick attached to your skin, there’s no need to panic—calmly remove the tick as soon as possible by pulling gently with a set of fine-tipped tweezers trying to get the whole tick including the mouth, then clean the site with alcohol. If you suspect exposure, contact your physician for a consult.
There is much information online; look particularly at the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation website.
Do get outside, just do a tick check when the day is done. Save yourself and your loved ones a lot of heartache.
til next week,
the good doctor
