by Sarah Clachar
From Taste for Life May 2006
Summer is the season for shorts and bare feet, and rambling in the woods and fields. Unfortunately, with the threat of Lyme disease, your wanderings may not be as carefree as in the past.
About Lyme Disease
Caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, Lyme disease is transferred to humans by deer ticks in many parts of the U.S. These ticks are very tiny and brownish-black. The unfed nymph is about the size of a poppy seed, and the unfed adult female is only 1/8-inch long, making them extremely hard to spot.
While successfully treatable with a few weeks of antibiotics, Lyme disease can lead to serious health problems if left undetected and untreated, affecting joints, the heart, and the nervous system.
Keep ticks away from your home by clearing away leaf litter and brush. Mow the lawn, keeping a wide pathway between areas that your family frequents, such as play equipment and picnic tables, and any surrounding woods or fields that are likely tick habitats. Use fencing or organic repellents to discourage deer from frequenting these areas.
When you do enter tick-friendly environments, wear long pants, long sleeves, and long socks. Tuck your pant legs into your socks, using tape around the socks for extra security. Wear light-colored clothing so you can easily see ticks crawling on your clothes.
When you return home, check your clothing and your body carefully. Use extra scrutiny as you check ticks’ favorite spots—the scalp, behind the ears, the arm pits, and the groin area. Don’t forget to check your pets for ticks, as well.
If you do find a tick attached to your skin, remove it promptly. Use a pair of tweezers and grasp the tick as close to your skin as possible. Pull steadily, straight out, to extract it. Try not to squash the tick. Do not apply petroleum jelly, alcohol, or heat from a lit match to induce the tick to withdraw. All of these actions are ineffective and may actually cause the tick to propel bacteria-laden saliva into the opening of the skin.
Save the tick to assist in diagnosis in case the person to whom it was attached displays symptoms of disease. Watch the area of the bite carefully for the characteristic circular red rash. Fatigue, fever, headaches, stiffness, and pain in muscles and joints are all symptoms of Lyme disease.
Selected Sources
“Control Ticks around Your Home and in Your Community,” “Learn About Lyme Disease,” Centers for Disease Control, www.cdc.gov
“Repelling Properties of some Plant Materials on the Tick Ixodes ricinus L.” by W. Thorsell et al., Phytomedicine, 1/5/06
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Safe, Natural Repellents
Avoid harmful chemicals in well-known repellents DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide) and permethrin. Go natural instead.