If you’re outdoors in the warmer months there are some important things you need to know about hiking safety concerning ticks. In the United States the tick is even more common than the mosquito and a leading disease carrier in humans.

Ticks are tiny arthropods that live in grasslands, trees, leaf litter, hayfields, swamp and marshlands which is where most people will be hiking. They may also be found on some animals and birds. They cannot fly or jump instead as you rub against the bushes, plants and grass, the tick attaches you. For reasons of hiking safety many wear long pants and long sleeve shirts to help protect themselves.

Ticks may move slowly on your skin for up to one hour before biting you. Ticks move warm and moist locations as your head, neck, armpits, ankles, or groin. A tick once attached to a hiker, will burrow into the skin without detection and feed its by biting you and drawing blood.

There are different types of ticks with the soft-bodied ticks usually have their fill after a few hours but the hard-bodied ticks may stay on the host’s skin for up to 2 weeks.

Have fun and hike safely. A majority of tick bites are harmless, however some can lead to diseases so if you discover a tick attached to the skin, remove it immediately. Lyme disease is what most hikers are concerned about from ticks. Typically the symptoms include an oval rash that gets larger over several days and can develop a clear spot in the middle, but not everyone reaction is the same and some people do not get a rash.

Other signs range from body aches and fever to much more serious ones like temporary paralysis, fatigue, weakness and joint swelling. For some people there is a Lyme disease itching symptom, but others report no itchy sensations. These symptoms can emerge anytime between one day and thirty days following the tick bite, depending upon the infection passed on by the tick.

There are two steps involved in tick bite treatment:

·    Firstly the tick must be removed without it regurgitating its contents into the wound. It is not necessarily the actual bite that causes the problem, more the transfer of saliva and bacteria from the tick through the skin of the host.

Often when removing a tick a portion of the head remains in the skin as it has a barbed mouth to help secure it while feeding. So the tick must be pulled using tweezers and pulled out straight and not twisted. Use a sterilized needle to remove the head if necessary. Remember a tick has infectious saliva on it so once removed dispose of it carefully.

·    Secondly the remaining crater type wound cleaned and disinfected. 

As a further reference see Everything You Need to Know About Lyme Disease

If you cannot remove the tick, develop a further rash or feel unwell seek medical help. And always hike safely.
Ticks and What You Can Do about Them
Price: $5.99
Learn how to avoid and remove ticks. This book describes the biology and distribution of important North American ticks and the symptoms of Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and other tick-carried diseases.

Brand: Wilderness Press

Originally posted 2009-08-27 11:54:59.