If you do find an attached tick, you must be careful to properly remove the tick. Use fine-point tweezers or tick removal tool to grasp the tick at the place of attachment, as close to the skin as possible. Gently pull the tick straight out, without twisting. DO NOT grab the body of the tick or use heat, nail polish, oils or other topical agents.
Wash your hands, disinfect the tweezers and the bite site with an alcohol pad or similar disinfectant. Save the tick in a small container or baggie labeled with the name, address, date and estimated hours attached.
Strongly consider treating with antibiotics to prevent a disseminated, harder to treat, infection. Taking a wait and see approach can be risky.
Transmission of Lyme Disease and other bacterial, viral and parasitic infections can take place in a matter of MINUTES, particularly if the tick is not removed properly.
Research shows that there is no minimum attachment time for transmission of a Lyme Disease infection. The arbitrary 36 hour minimum attachment presumption is extremely misleading and can have life-altering consequences if an infection is not treated early.
In addition to Lyme disease, ticks can also transmit many other viral, bacterial and parasitic infections/diseases such as Babesiosis, Tularemia, Anaplasmosis, Mycoplasma, Ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Borrelia miyamotoi, Bartonellosis, Bourbon Virus, Heartland Virus, Powassan disease among others. Many studies have found ticks infected with two or more of these pathogens can result in more serious symptoms and prolonged illness.
Not all ticks are infected with disease-causing pathogens, but increasingly many are infected.
