got this info from a friend with hunting dogs. since ticks are always a menace in Africa, thought it might be useful as an easy, safe way to remove them. soak a cotton ball with liquid soap( dishwashing or body type). apply it to the tick , leave it there for a few seconds, then gently rub the tick for 15-20 seconds. tick will back out and become stuck to the cotton ball. fast, simple and( according to my friend), infallible with no danger of the tick injecting his stomach contents into you as can happen when you use tweezers. also works in hard to access body areas.

I had to do this a couple of weeks ago. Alcohol and other liquids did not work and, as you say, pulling with tweezers can leave the head in the wound.

Simply rubbing around the tick in a rotary motion makes it disoriented in a few seconds and it releases its grip.

(I found that through an Internet search.)

I would n't use that method if I were you. There is plenty of literature that shows that is not the way to go as tick will vomit its stomach contents back into you and you run the grave risk of contracting Lymes disease - not something I would recomend as I have just spent the last 18 months recovering from it.

The only way to remove ticks is to use a hook or a lasso to get underneath the little buggers and lift them off the surface of your skin.

In Africa ticks can carry a pretty nasty tick bite feaver, and also cause very veldt sores - large infected boils that take foreever to heal.

quote:

Originally posted by Anjin:

Simply rubbing around the tick in a rotary motion makes it disoriented in a few seconds and it releases its grip.

Yes I use a similar method, I take a match and rub the round end in circles around the tick. The tick will fall off. I had many ticks in the last years and it allways works.

All of this seems like a lot of work.when I get a tick I just pull it off and then take great joy in making it suffer as much as possible.almost like when you get hold of a tetse fly and pull it apart piece by piece

Nah!! The best method is to settle down with a glass of good wine or a single malt while a youngish nubile gets busy with a pair of tweezers.

C'mon, man up, just use your teeth...

Train a baboon to do it (of course it might want reciprocity).

on some of these "best practices". I always just yank them off.

An old Platton Sgt told me a long time ago to always use Irish Spring soap. He claimed ticks, red bugs and other critters don't care for it. I have made that a habit since then. I get a few ticks and bites sometimes but it is very little compared to some of the problems my buddies working in the same area may have.

Prevention use flea and tick shampoo for dogs.

For removal i use Ballistol (gun oil) but lighter fluid , benzene, diesel etc will work.

In generally I just pull them out carefully without pressing on the tick's body you don't want to squeeze the contents of the tick in to your limps.

Cheers

quote:

C'mon, man up, just use your teeth...

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
C'mon, man up, just use your teeth...

As most folk can barely reach their toes with their hands, how the hell are they going to get their teeth to where ticks most often end up?

I can hardly WAIT until I have a chance to try these tick removal procedures! Really! I'm most anxious to try my teeth.

Sadly, I do use Irish Spring soap and though I know there are ticks around my place, I haven't been bitten by one in years.

An old, still good, reference from one of the few professional organizations I belong to, besides the NRA:

http://www.aafp.org/afp/2002/0815/p643.html

Thanks for the info RIP! Nothing like getting a scientific reference rather than the old-wives tails...uh,er, tales.
Will get the tick forceps.
Max

While this may sound extreme to some, I am fine with it. I use ice to numb the skin around the tick. I do not put ice on the tick, just my skin. I then take a scalpel or razor blade if no scalpel and just cut that piece of skin of. Then I put alcohol or some other sterling flush antiseptic ointment and go my way. Of course if the tick is Ina place you can not reach or see this will involve another to help.

Has worked for me.

I have used the "TICK TWISTER" and was happy with the results. I would rather spend time and money on preventive measures, rather than removal equipment.

quote:

Originally posted by JIm Yackley:
I have used the "TICK TWISTER" and was happy with the results. I would rather spend time and money on preventive measures, rather than removal equipment.

1 tick is not much of a problem. 140 is a pain. A few years ago I got around 140 tiny grass tick all over me. They are so small they look like a little spec. They pull out easy enough, but they are too small to use any sort of technique on, and invariably these is a little bit left behind. I ended up with a multitude of little itchy oozing lumps, and some took a few months to dissappear totally. Not fun. Prevention is way better than cure.

Irish Spring soap ?? The first and last time I used it was necessary as there was nothing else.The smell will drive off anything !

According to the NY State Tick ID Card ;
Use twizzers near the mouth and gently pull upward.
Do not sqeeze the tick
Do not use kerosene or vaselineDo not use smoldering cigarette or match

Claen and disinfecct skin with soap and water or H2O2

I use this tick key
Tick Key
I keep a couple of these around and they seem to work well.

Hunting turkeys in the Yucatan last spring I brought one of these along and kept it in my bag. As I was falling asleep I felt a sting on my leg and saw it was some sort of tick attaching on. I got up to get the key and the tick started feeling like a wasp stinging. I have never felt a tick that stung but holy crap it hurt. I ended up using my tactical flashlight to beat the crap out of it and my leg. There was a lot of blood but the tick was safely removed

A match or lighter has always worked for me. For those with a little less gumption (or stupidity) I hear vaseline makes them back out as well.

Some tick thoughts.
For background, I spent most of my working life as a medical entomologist doing public health vector control to support my farming habit. I am facinated by ticks and continue to casually collect and identify them. I know they are not butterflies, but they are amazing little animals that are beautiful in their own way. I spend a good deal of time outside in tick country, I typically have a few crawling on me each day. Just for the record, I get about twenty to fifty attachments a year, from the one's I don't find right away. Only six so far this year. One of my disapppointments was not finding one tick on any of the animals that I shot in Namibia.
I would strongly advise folks to use the tweezer technique. I would not reccommend any rubbing or application of irritants. Those and other techniques increase the likelihood of disease transmission. The diseases spread by ticks can be difficult to diagnose and sometimes difficult to get completly resolved.
One thing you will notice is that you may have a very different reaction to different species bites. In my case, I have almost no reaction to tick bites from Dermacentor (Eastern dog ticks or wood ticks) and Ixodes (deer ticks), yet Amblyoma (lone star ticks) usually itch, swell, and take several weeks to completely heal and often let a scar.
If you live in a Lyme disease area and get a red ring around a tick bite, go to you family physician.
Bfly

Well, gentlemen, I would say that most of the opinions on the subject of tick removal are opinions; supposedly "expert" opinions. It has been studied and established that disease transmission is more likely to occur the longer a tick has been attached. What I doubt has ever been established in a prospective fashion, is whether or not there is ANY difference in disease transmission rate depending on the particular method of tick removal. I also doubt there has ever been any study proving that a tick is more likely to inject infectious material depending on whether you burn it, cover it with soap, use forceps on the abdomen, etc.

I think it's ludicrous to do things like apply "antiseptic" solution or give an antibiotic unless you also do so every time you get some scratch or just want something to do. Get the tick off as soon as possible and then just wash the area with soap and water. Of the tens of thousands, yea probably millions of tick bites that occur yearly, many are unnoticed and only a small percentage cause infection. Of those that cause infection, it's doubtful that washing with an antiseptic solution would prevent it and you can't give antibiotics to everyone with a tick bite.

I just remove the tick grasping, in some fashion, the hard thoracic exoskeleton the closer to the head the batter; tweezers or forceps work best for this but if you don't have them, use your fingers. A scalpel or other clean sharp instrument can be used, by those proficient with sharp things, without anesthetic and without pain or bleeding to remove a superficial layer of skin where the bite occurred to remove any mouth parts which, if left in, can cause a small abscess or granuloma.

Of course, the above, is only my expert opinion.

Come on guys, it really does not matter how you remove the the little critturs. From the time that the tick incises your skin and transfers its anticoagulant into you, whatever bacteria are present go with. Read the following and the hyporchondriacs amongst you can follow the link below.


What is tick bite fever?

Tick bite fever (rickettsia) is caused by a bacterial infection transmitted by ticks. This condition occurs in many areas of the world and is often known by a variety of names (see table below).
What causes tick bite fever?

The organism that causes tick bite fever belongs to the Rickettsial family of bacteria. As can be seen from the table, there are a number of different species of Rickettsias.

These organisms are relatively small – about 2/1000ths of a millimetre long – and are only able to survive inside cells. They are found in certain wild and domestic animals, and ticks acquire the organisms when they feed on these animals.

When the tick bites a human, the bacterium is transmitted in the saliva. The bacteria can also be transmitted from ticks to their offspring when still in the egg stage i.e. the Rickettsiae infect the eggs of the tick and thus infect the offspring.

In various parts of the world, different species of tick and Rickettsia are involved in causing tick-bite fever, and these forms of the disease are also given different names

names (see table).
Infection Organism Location Other names
Rocky Mountain spotted fever R. ricketsii USA
Boutonneuse R. conorii Africa, Meditteranean, India Marseilles fever, Mediterranean spotted fever, African tick bite fever.
Queensland tick typhus R.australis Australia
North Asian tick typhus R. sibirica Siberia, Mongolia

In South Africa, the cause of tick bite fever is either R. conorii (as in the table), or R. africae.
How do you get tick bite fever?

As mentioned above, the organisms are transmitted in the saliva of an infected tick when it bites humans. Alternatively, if the tick is crushed on your skin, the rickettsias may be able to enter through a small abrasion.

Being bitten by ticks usually occurs in rural or wilderness areas i.e. when you are out camping, hiking in long grass etc. The ticks that are able to harbour the organism belong to either the Amblyomma, Dermacentor or the Rhipicephalus family of ticks. The Amblyomma ticks actively seek out humans to feed on, while Rhipicephalus ticks tend to lie in wait on grass, and will bite you if you walk past.
Symptoms and signs of tick bite fever

If you get bitten by an infected tick, the incubation period (the period between being infected and displaying symptoms) is about five to seven days. Symptoms can vary, depending partly on the organism involved. Your age and underlying health may also influence the severity of the infection.

Typical features may include the presence of a black mark where the bite occurred, and fever, severe headache and a rash. The black mark at the site of the tick bite is called an eschar (or a tache noir), and looks like a small ulcer (2-5mm in diameter) with a black centre. It may look something like a spider bite. The eschars can be single or multiple and can sometimes be very difficult to find. The eschar usually appears once the fever appears, as does the headache and malaise (general feeling of ill-health). Lymph nodes near the eschar may be enlarged.

A rash is usually, but not always, a feature of tick bite fever (it is supposedly less likely to occur in someone infected by R. africae), but when it is present, it consists of small red marks on the skin, sometimes raised slightly above the surface. It typically starts on the limbs and spreads to the trunk, and can involve the entire body, including the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.
What is the outcome of tick bite fever?

African tick bite fever is usually mild, and death and serious complications are very uncommon. This is in contrast to Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which is usually a more severe illness. Complications include encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), pneumonia and damage to the brain and heart.
How is tick bite fever diagnosed?

Your doctor will examine you and question you about your symptoms and whether you could have had recent exposure to ticks. The typical scenario would be that you had been hiking or camping in a rural or wilderness area, and were therefore in contact with ticks. About a week later, you would have experienced a severe headache, fever and generally felt poorly. You may also have a rash and/or an eschar, and enlarged lymph nodes near the eschar.

The presence of the rash and an eschar is a very strong diagnostic sign for tick bite fever. Some other conditions that may be confused with tick bite fever are infection with Neisseria meningitidis (the meningococcus, which causes meningitis and a skin rash), measles and German measles. The pattern of the rash is different in measles and German measles, and the rash in meningococcal infection tends to occur more rapidly, and looks like severe bruises rather than small red marks.

Because the organism lives inside cells, it is very difficult to culture it in a laboratory, and this isn’t routinely offered as a diagnostic test. However, your body makes antibodies (proteins that attack invasive substances or organisms) to the bacteria, and these can be looked for in the laboratory. These serological tests are the main method of confirming a diagnosis of tick bite fever. However, sometimes the tests only become positive after a couple of weeks, so while they may help to confirm a diagnosis, they are not always immediately helpful early on in the infection. If you have typical symptoms of the infection, and a history of possible exposure to ticks, your doctor may decide to treat you before results of the serological tests are known.
How is tick bite fever treated?

Some forms of tick bite fever are fairly mild and self-limiting – people may get better on their own without specific treatment. This can take up to two weeks however, and treatment with an antibiotic can shorten the duration of symptoms and reduce the chance of a serious side-effect. In severe cases, antibiotic therapy is more important, and can be life saving. The antibiotic doxycycline is the preferred agent for treating tick bite fever. Some people are not able to take doxcycline, in which case chloramphenicol, or sometimes ciprofloxacin, may be used instead.

Experience with using ciprofloxacin is more limited than with doxycycline or chloramphenicol. In addition, the use of antibiotics like clarithromycin and azithromycin for treating tick bite fever is being studied. These agents may be especially useful for treating pregnant women with tick bite fever.
Can tick bite fever be prevented?

The easiest may to prevent tick bite fever is to avoid being bitten by ticks. Avoiding rural or wilderness areas where ticks are likely to occur is one way to achieve this, but not a great solution if you enjoy hiking and camping. Other measures are generally common-sense, such as wearing insect repellents and long trousers and sleeves. There is no vaccine against tick bite fever, and taking prophylactic antibiotics (as one does for malaria) has never been shown to be effective or necessary.
When to call the doctor

Things that should make you suspicious of tick bite fever would be potential exposure to ticks (either by hiking or camping, or you think you’ve been bitten by a tick imported by your favourite pet!) along with fever, headache, a rash and a black ulcer-like lesion (the eschar). In this sort of rather obvious scenario, it is advisable to see your doctor. Unfortunately, the eschar is not always visible, so the absence of an eschar shouldn’t lull you into a false sense of security. Another problem is that the symptoms of fever, headache and a rash are very common (many viral infections, for example, can cause this).

In these less obvious situations, the decision of whether or not to consult a doctor depends to some degree on how ill you feel, and what your underlying state of health is (your age, any other health problems, any regular medication etc). As with most illness, some common-sense is required, but if you are in any doubt and you are feeling unwell, it would be best to consult your doctor.

(Written by Dr Andrew Whitelaw, University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital)


http://www.medicinenet.com/scr.../alphaidx.asp?p=a_63


A MUST SEE FOR THOSE VISITING SOUTH AFRICA!

http://www.kznhealth.gov.za/en.../africanbonttick.htm

If you are a smoker pinch a small amount of tobacco from a cigarette or cigar, chew it to a mushy pulp and smother the tick - it will release its hold within next to no time.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Scriptus:
Come on guys, it really does not matter how you remove the the little critturs. From the time that the tick incises your skin and transfers its anticoagulant into you, whatever bacteria are present go with/QUOTE]

That's why I favor the macho method of using a cigarette lighter, depending on location of course ...

Gotta love RIP's attachment! It appears to be a size 14 foam cricket being removed. Are the ticks by you that big?

quote:

Originally posted by Minkman:
Gotta love RIP's attachment! It appears to be a size 14 foam cricket being removed. Are the ticks by you that big?

Says "Simulation," and obviously done with a plastic bug that looks more like a huge queen ant than a cricket, by Jiminy!
Done that way for those who only look at pictures and do not even read the captions ...
Made ya look, eh?

If you guys really want to have some fun, get a nest of our fiery East Cape Pepper Ticks down your trousers! So please no more jokes about ticks Im shit scared of them!

quote:

Originally posted by lal:
If you guys really want to have some fun, get a nest of our fiery East Cape Pepper Ticks down your trousers! So please no more jokes about ticks Im shit scared of them!

Krap bliksem, krap!
You do know that pepper ticks are a juvenile stage.

These work great

http://theticknipper.com/

Bulky, but do a better job than anything else I have found.

Take 6-8 ticks off per year with them.



more reading here
http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html

Tick Nipper is a great product. One has been in my first aid kit for 5-6 years.

quote:

Originally posted by PSmith:
Train a baboon to do it (of course it might want reciprocity).

quote:

Originally posted by lal:
If you guys really want to have some fun, get a nest of our fiery East Cape Pepper Ticks down your trousers! So please no more jokes about ticks Im shit scared of them!

How would you get ticks down your trousers?

I want to know so I can avoid such activity at all costs when I visit the Eastern Cape.

quote:

Originally posted by Grumulkin:

quote:

Originally posted by lal:
If you guys really want to have some fun, get a nest of our fiery East Cape Pepper Ticks down your trousers! So please no more jokes about ticks Im shit scared of them!

How would you get ticks down your trousers?

I want to know so I can avoid such activity at all costs when I visit the Eastern Cape.

Down them, up them, one thing is for sure, you are going to hate a hot shower, hot bath or warm in bed, 'cause that is when the itch first gets started and it can run up to two months. I have heard tell that it becomes a little awkward on the plane home, as you warm up and relax into a doze, then the itch starts. Scratching away like a demented baboon tends to upset fellow passengers. Two things, a good appropiate insect repellent for your clothes and yourself, second, avoid sheltered grassy areas. By sheltered, tallish grass under trees where frost cannot get to, the places where you will creep in for cover while stalking. Strangly enough, your scalp does not itch nearly as bad as your nether regions. And when you get home, because of all your scratching, the little red bumps have become inflamed raw spots. In all likelyhood, when your loved one catches sight of your condition, you will be packed off to a tropical diseases institute.

A Brad Paisley song comes to mind ...

Simple preventative, put some sulpher in a sock, powder yourself from bottom to top. No issue w/ any bugs at all. I have used this for many years in Texas while Bow hunting. Don't turn youself yellow, just cover yourself. Critters can't stand it, works every time. Especially where ur clothes are tight.

Also if you get into chiggers, get some Lysol in the brown bottle. Put a couple table spoons into warm water in a couple inches of water in a tub. WARNING! DO NOT GET IT ON YOUR "NUTS".Friggin ouch. Take a washclothe and soak it and wash down. It kills the chiggers and stops the itch. Found out the hard way. The itching stops almost instantly. You smell stinky BWTH!

Gentlemen,

We recently had a Grand Rounds talk about this at work with one of our infectious disease colleagues who has a special interest in this sort of thing. Besides the treatment aspects of tick-borne illnesses, the take-away points I gathered were this:

• Don't let the sun go down with a tick on your ass (ie. get them off ASAP). There is a direct relationship to the duration of attachment and the transmission of disease.
  
• DO NOT USE YOUR FINGERS to pull them off. You might as well be sharing a dirty heroin needle with the junkie living under the bridge. The regurgitation of infected juices is a real and proven phenomenon. Instead use one of these cheap and ubiquitous devices (try Ebay... free shipping):
  

Good luck.

It seems the best proposal yet would be some combination of PSmith's and Scriptus' solutions -- then reciprocation would not be an issue, presumably.

Fujo's solution works, but the better solution is not to get the ticks on you in the first place. While it might not be totally acceptable or safe, I usually take a little dog shampoo with tick and flea insecticide and use a bit in the shower. Haven't had a problem thus far.