May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month. Throughout the month, I’m writing a series of articles to raise awareness of Lyme. This first appeared on Medium.
Whether you live in the country or the city — the risks of Lyme disease exist as soon as you step outside.
The best defense against Lyme and tick-borne disease is to avoid contact with ticks.
Your next best defense is to quickly find and remove any ticks that may latch on to you.
Sounds easy, but it’s not.
Lyme disease is the leading vector-borne disease in the US, with more than 500,000 new cases each year.
Learning to protect yourself is critical to avoiding Lyme disease, regardless of where you live.
It’s also important to know these facts about Lyme:
Lyme has been found in every state and on every continent except Antarctica.
You won’t feel a tick bite.
You may never see the tick that bit you.
Lyme tests are not accurate and miss more than 50% of Lyme cases.
You can have a negative Lyme test but still have Lyme.
Most Lyme patients do not have a bulls-eye rash.
In order to prevent Lyme, you need to know where ticks live and the steps to take to prevent it.
If you work outside or enjoy certain activities, such as hiking or playing golf that have a higher risk of exposure, you need to take extra precautions.
Where do ticks live?
Ticks tend to be near the ground, in leaf litter, grass, bushes, and fallen logs. But ticks can also be found in cities and most certainly, in your backyard.
I live in New England, so any grass area is a potential risk. It’s why I no longer wear sandals unless I’m staying on the pavement.
High-risk activities include:
walking, playing or sitting in or near grassy fields (baseball fields, golf courses, your own backyard)
hiking on wooded trails
gathering firewood
playing in or near leaves (children love this activity in the Fall)
leaning against or sitting on a tree trunk
gardening
Children are especially vulnerable to tick-borne diseases because they’re physically low to the ground.
If you love the feel of grass between your toes or your toddler loves to run barefoot in the grass, be sure to use repellent and check often for ticks.
Don’t forget that your pets need to be protected as well. Ticks love to hitch rides on your pet and into your home.
10 ways to protect yourself from Lyme
Dress defensively
· Wear shoes, socks, long pants and long sleeves, even in the summer if you plan to be in a high-risk area.
· Tie back long hair and wear a hat.
· Wear light-colored clothing which helps you spot ticks more easily.
2. Use Permethrin on shoes and clothes
Spraying shoes with permethrin will help prevent ticks from crawling up your shoes. Nymphal and larval stage ticks, the smallest and hard-to-spot latch on at shoe level, so spraying your shoes with permethrin can help reduce tick attachments.
Permethrin-treated clothing also helps repel ticks. When clothes are treated with permethrin, ticks may grab on, but after a few seconds of exposure, they will generally fall off.
You can get a variety of insect repellent clothing that is already treated, or spray your own clothing and gear.
You can even send your clothes to Insect Shield and they’ll treat them for you with their Insect Shield Your Clothes program.
Insect Shield Repellent Apparel is registered with the US EPA and utilized by many lifestyle brands, workwear distributors, and International relief organizations to provide effective protection against insects and the diseases they carry. Clothing protected by Insect Shield lasts through 70 washings.
When you apply permethrin yourself, protection generally lasts through 5–6 washings.
Benefits of permethrin-treated clothing:
Long-lasting
Don’t have to reapply every time you step outside.
Effective
Odorless
Invisible
3. Use repellent on exposed skin
Studies show that repellents with DEET, picaridin or lemon eucalyptus oil are the most effective but they must be applied carefully and reapplied often.
4. Check for ticks while outside and when returning home
When outdoors, periodically inspect your clothing and skin for ticks. Brush off those that aren’t attached and remove any that are.
When you return from an outdoor activity, be sure to do a thorough tick check. Dr. Thomas Mather, Tick Expert from the University of Rhode Island Tick Encounter Resource Center suggests:
The most important thing to think about when you’re doing a tick check is that you need to check the lower extremities first and then move up.
You can watch his video How to Do a Tick Check | Tips for You and Your Petsto learn more.
5. Shower
Once home, take a shower right away. This will wash away unattached ticks and offer a good chance to thoroughly inspect yourself. Feel for bumps that might be embedded ticks. Pay careful attention to hidden places, including groin, armpits, back of knees, belly button and scalp. Parents should always check their children.
6. Hot dryer
Running your clothes in a hot dryer for 10 minutes before you wash them will kill any ticks that may be there.
7. Protect your pets
Ticks can infect dogs and cats, too. Their fur can act like a “tick magnet,” carrying ticks inside your home. Do a thorough tick check after a walk with your four-legged friend and before entering your home. Talk with your veterinarian about tick-protection for your pets as there are a variety of types that are effective.
8. Create a tick-safe zone at home
Prune trees, clear leaves, and yard debris, keep deer and other wild animals out of your yard.
Treat the perimeter of your yard as well as bushes and shrubs. There are several ways to treat your yard, including natural products such as those from Wondercide.
9. If you find a tick, be sure to remove it promptly and properly.
· Don’t squeeze, twist or squash it.
· Don’t burn it with a match or cover it with Vaseline.
· Use fine-point tweezers or a special tick-removing tool. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible. If you don’t have tweezers, protect your fingers with a tissue.
· Pull the tick straight out with steady, even pressure.
· Disinfect the bite area and wash your hands.
· Save the tick for testing (alive if possible) in a small bottle or plastic bag with a green leaf or damp piece of tissue.
· Label it with your name, date, site of bite, and how long the tick was attached.
10. Know the symptoms of Lyme
According to the MyLymeData patient registry, 64% of Lyme patients report flu-like symptoms, while only 34% reported a rash.
A study by John Aucott, MD found that 54% of Lyme disease patients who present without a rash are misdiagnosed.
If you spend any time outside or have found an attached tick, it’s important to watch for symptoms including:
Neck Pain
Fatigue
Sweats
Rash
Fever
Headache
Muscle Pain
Chills
Joint Pain
Sleep Issues
If diagnosed and treated early, Lyme disease treatment can be effective.
I didn’t take prevention seriously until after I became ill with Lyme because I didn’t know better. Unfortunately, that’s the case for many people.
There’s a saying in the Lyme community, “You don’t get it until you get it.”
Let me help you BEFORE you get it.
Prevention is the key to avoiding Lyme disease.
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