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