Everyone and their Great Aunt Edith seem to have friendly advice on how to remove a tick. The trick is knowing how to sort the myths from the facts—getting tick removal wrong could be dangerous. For example, burning a tick with a match and painting over it with nail polish are not safe ways to remove ticks (no matter what Aunt Edith says). Methods such as these can increase the risk of contracting Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. So, let’s take a look at how to remove a tick the right way.

The Importance of Using Safe Tick Removal Techniques

The proper way to remove a tick is unlike removing any other type of insect from the body. While you can simply brush away most bugs, a tick attaches to the body, bites the skin, inserts a barbed feeding tube, and begins drinking blood. Ticks differ from most biting bugs in that they burrow into the skin and remain attached to the body even after biting. Because many ticks carry diseases, they can pass these diseases to their human host while attached.

Certain unsafe removal methods can cause the tick to salivate and regurgitate into the bite site, which may increase the risk of disease transmission. This is just one reason why it’s essential to learn how to remove a tick safely.

What Are the Incorrect Tick Removal Methods?

As noted, removing a tick improperly can be even more damaging than leaving the tick to disengage on its own. In addition, it can increase your chance of contracting a tick-borne disease and infection. The following methods are NOT the proper way to remove a tick:

• Applying heat to the tick’ body with a hot nail or match.
• Covering the tick with petroleum jelly, alcohol, nail polish, or gasoline.
• Killing the tick while it’s still attached to the skin.
• Crushing, squeezing, twisting, or puncturing the tick.
• Handling the tick body with bare hands.

Now, let’s review how to remove a tick safely.

Proper Tick Removal Methods

While you may be eager to remove a tick from your body or your child’s body as quickly as possible, it’s important to have the right supplies on hand first. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Pointy tweezers – Choose tweezers with a pointed tip, not square. Your typical eyebrow tweezers likely aren’t pointy enough and might tear the tick’s body.
• Rubbing alcohol or soap and water – You will use this to clean the site thoroughly once the tick is removed.

Once you have these items ready to go, take the following steps to remove a tick safely to minimize the risk of infection:

• Clean the area surrounding the tick bite with rubbing alcohol or soap and water.
• Take your pointed tweezers and place the point down into the skin so you can grasp the insect as closely as possible to the tick’s head.
• Use slow, firm motion and apply steady pressure to pull the tick straight up and out of the skin—avoid jerking or twisting. If the tick breaks, make sure to go back to the bite site to remove the remaining head. If you are unable to remove the head, seek medical attention.
• Once removed, avoid handling the tick with bare hands. Use the tweezers to place the tick’s body into a container with a blade of grass if you wish to keep it alive to send away for testing. Or safely dispose of the tick by flushing it down the toilet.
• Use rubbing alcohol or soap and water to clean the bite area once again.

When you use this proper way to remove a tick, you can limit the damage caused by the bite. But remain alert to possible symptoms so you know if and when you should seek medical attention. 

Control Ticks and Other Pests with Mosquito Joe

You can never be too cautious about tick bites and preventing tick-borne illnesses. Now that you know how to remove a tick safely, you can take steps to enjoy outdoor fun free from these biters. Reach out to your local Mosquito Joe for barrier treatments designed to eliminate ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes. Call us at 1-855-275-2563 or contact us online to schedule professional tick control services. We’re making the outdoors fun again!

How do ticks transmit disease?

Because ticks drink the blood of their hosts, either human or animal, they can pick up any disease their host is infected with. The tick then transmits the disease through its saliva. When the tick bites, a small amount of saliva enters the new host’s skin. 

However, improper tick removal methods can stimulate the tick to salivate more heavily into the wound, increasing the transmission of pathogens. This is one reason it is essential to learn how to remove a tick safely. 

Do tick bites itch or hurt?

Typically, tick bites do not itch or even hurt. You are unlikely to even feel a tick bite, making regular checks for ticks essential. If you find a tick on you, a family member, or a pet, be sure you know how to remove a tick safely so you can limit the potential transmission of disease and infection.

How to check for ticks?

It’s critical to check for ticks thoroughly after returning indoors. Spotting ticks early can help reduce the risk of disease. Once a tick attaches to the skin of its host, the potential for transmission of a tick-borne disease increases significantly after 24 hours. Therefore a visual examination of your body and lightly skimming with your hands across your skin, especially in places you cannot see, is critical to early tick detection. 

A shower will wash off any crawling ticks. This is also a good time to search for ticks with your hands. Pay particular attention to underarms, behind ears and knees, under hair and on the scalp, inside the belly button, around the waist, and groin area. If you find an embedded tick on you or your pet, use the proper way to remove a tick, and discard it safely.

What are tick bite symptoms?

Several different tick-borne diseases have similar symptoms, like fever, chills, aches, pains, and a rash. If you get bitten by a tick, be sure to remove the tick safely and, if possible, save the specimen for examination should you, a loved one, or a pet develop any symptoms. If you do develop symptoms within a few weeks, seek medical attention and submit the tick you removed for testing.

For reference, a Lyme disease rash has a characteristic bull’s eye appearance. The bite location will be red and slightly swollen, with the area around it clear and surrounded by a ring of reddened skin.

Contact Mosquito Joe for Tick Control Services Near You

You can never be too cautious about tick bites and preventing tick-borne illnesses. While it’s great to know how to remove a tick safely, it’s so much better to prevent tick bites! So, add an extra layer of protection to your outdoor fun with Mosquito Joe’s tick barrier treatments. We can will help to protect your family and property from ticks and a variety of biters, including mosquitoes, fleas, and gnats.

You know your tick control service will be done right and on time because Mosquito Joe is a Neighborly company. Our services are backed by the Neighborly Done Right Promise and the Mosquito Joe® Satisfaction Guarantee!

Contact Us

Secure your patio and property for bite-free fun! Just reach out to your local Mosquito Joe for barrier treatments to eliminate and prevent ticks.

Call us at 1-855-275-2563 or contact us online to schedule professional tick control services.

A walk in the woods can be a pleasant reprieve but can also invite some unwanted hitchhikers. Ticks can latch onto exposed skin, move from clothing onto the skin, and even tag a ride on your four-legged friends. Ticks can also be transmitters of illnesses such as Lyme disease.

Don’t let these pests prevent you and your family from enjoying the outdoors!

Taking the necessary measures is important for those living in areas with significant tick populations and the presence of tick-borne diseases. Learn how to prevent ticks and reclaim your outdoor exploration with these tick prevention tips from Mosquito Joe.

How to Prevent Tick Bites

Don’t let ticks put a damper on your outdoor plans! By following proper precautions to prevent and repel ticks you can enjoy your favorite outside activities tick- and care-free.

Here are our best tips for how to prevent tick bites:
Use Tick Repellent

• Employing an insect repellent is a great preventative step toward both ticks and mosquitoes. Apply a trusted repellent topically and on clothing to prevent mosquito bites and keep ticks off your body. Be sure the repellent you’re using is effective on ticks, as many repellents are mosquito specific.

Go Lightly

• Mix one tablespoon of baking soda with enough water to form a paste. Apply to the bite and then wash off the mixture after 10 minutes.

Cool it Down

• Wearing pants and long-sleeve shirts reduces the amount of exposed skin. This provides less area for a tick to latch onto, and decreases your chances of bringing one home. Opting for light-colored clothing helps you more easily spot any tick stowaways before heading back inside.

Tuck It

• Tucking pant legs into socks creates a seamless length of protection down to your feet to prevent exposed ankles or from having ticks climb up open pant legs. Plus, it’s the most stylish look around for enjoying the outdoors in areas with ticks!

Down the Middle

• When you’re out for a hike, consider walking down the middle of the hiking trail rather than the edges. This practice lowers your exposure to tall grasses, where ticks are often lurking and waiting for the perfect host to pass by. Challenge your kids to a fun game of staying away from the edges of the trail as a way to encourage this behavior from them too!

Pat Down

• Upon completing your outdoor excursion, check yourself, your family, and your pets for ticks. For humans, start from the head down, checking hair, ears, underarms, waist, thighs, and inner knee. For furry friends, start at the snout, check ears, around collars, under legs, and under their tail.

Go Pro

• If you’re looking to take a more proactive step to keep ticks at bay while in your own yard, Mosquito Joe can help. For tick prevention close to home, developing a management plan, or having your yard professionally treated is the way to go.

Take back your yard and let the whole family spend time outside without worry. Get in touch with the professionals at Mosquito Joe today to learn more about your options. Give us a call at 1-855-275-2563 or request a quote online.

Understanding the Threat of Lone Star Tick Disease

Spring and summer typically bring more time spent enjoying the great outdoors but also increased concerns about potentially dangerous ticks. Lone star ticks, in particular, have become an intriguing species due to their ability to transmit ehrlichiosis—an illness that can create an allergy to red meat.

It almost sounds like a disease from a sci-fi movie, but this threat is not a figment of the imagination. Should you be concerned?

The experts at Mosquito Joe are here to answer your questions about lone star tick disease, including where these ticks are found and what is up with that dreadful meat allergy.

Where Are Lone Star Ticks Found?

Until recently, people outside of the southern parts of the United States didn’t have to worry about lone star tick disease. However, as the tick species has been spreading north, you now need to watch out for them in the entire eastern half of the United States—from Texas to Iowa and all the way east to the east coast. While the lone star ticks have shown up in areas as far north as Maine, they are still more common in southern states.

You will be able to identify a lone star tick by its silver-white dot—or “lone star”—located on the dorsal shield of females. Adult lone star ticks have a round, reddish-brown body and long, thin mouthparts.

Lone Star Tick Disease: Ehrlichiosis

Lone star ticks transmit bacteria that may lead to several different types of illnesses but the most well known and common is ehrlichiosis. This bacterial illness causes flu-like symptoms ranging from mild body aches and fatigue to high fever and vomiting. Perhaps the most notorious symptom is when the bitten individual develops an allergy to red meat (beef and pork).

While the meat allergy does not happen to every person who is bitten by a lone star tick, it is common enough to be cause for concern.

How does this bizarre allergic reaction develop? When the lone star tick bites a human after feeding on other mammals, the victim can experience an immune system response to the tick’s saliva molecules. Doctors say it can take anywhere from two weeks to three months after a lone star tick bite to experience this bizarre allergic reaction.

How Likely Are You to Contract Ehrlichiosis?

As the lone star tick species continues to expand its geographic footprint, many people living in the eastern half of the U.S. want to know what the risk is for contracting ehrlichiosis or developing the lone star tick meat allergy. Research reveals that a lone star tick is less likely to carry ehrlichiosis than a deer tick (also known as a blacklegged tick) is to carry Lyme disease. So not everyone who is bitten by a lone star tick will develop the red meat allergy.

The risk may not be high enough to warrant alarm. Still, it’s important to note that the lone star tick is the most aggressive tick species. It’s possible to experience multiple bites if you find yourself in their habitat.

Protect Yourself and Your Family with Tick Control Services

Checking for ticks regularly and being aware of the risk of tick-borne illnesses is important, but there’s more you can do to minimize exposure to the lone star tick disease

Let the team of experts at your local Mosquito Joe help you to combat any tick species in your area with our reliable tick control services.

We are dedicated to using the best prevention and barrier methods to serve as a strong line of defense against tick-borne illnesses. Call us at 1-855-275-2563 or contact us online to schedule professional tick control services.

Romping through the fields, roaming the woods, barreling through the bushes, your pup is an explorer! But all that running through the tall grass can attract some unwanted passengers—ticks!

It’s important to check your dog and other outdoor-going pets for ticks on a regular basis. But what is the most thorough way to search for these pesky parasites?
Let the insect experts at Mosquito Joe offer some tips on how to check your dog for ticks!

When to Check Dog for Ticks

How often you check your dog for ticks can change depending on where you live, how present ticks are in the environments you frequent, and how often you’re outside with your pet.

Tall grass, woods, and fields can all be breeding grounds for ticks and likely places for them to hitch a ride on your hound. If you live in an area with a significant tick population, your dog should be checked daily. If ticks are less present where you spend time day to day, focus on checking your dog after hikes or time spent where ticks could be present.

How to Check Dog for Ticks

Ticks can be found in your dog’s fur before they have attached themselves or may feel like a small bump on the skin once they’ve bitten the dog. The best method for checking for ticks is carefully combing through your dogs’ fur and feeling the skin for bumps.
Keep your furry friend fiend-free by following these steps for how to check your dog for ticks …

Head start

Begin at the snout of your dog and, using your fingers like a comb, run your hands over the head and around the neck. Pay special attention to the ears and around the collar.

Body work

Make a thorough search of your pet’s entire body, combing with your fingers. If your dog has thick or extra shaggy fur, take the time to really comb through his or her coat.

Nooks and crannies

Be sure to evaluate any dark or hard-to-reach areas. Check the groin, under the front legs (armpits), under the tail, and in the ears.

Bug be gone

If you do happen across a tick on your dog’s skin, resist the urge to immediately pull it out. Use tweezers or a tick removal tool and pull it out slow and gradually. Place the tick in rubbing alcohol to kill it.

Kick the Ticks

The best way to keep pests at bay is to be proactive! Check your dog for ticks, especially after being outdoors and be thorough in your search and give your dog a leg up by using flea and tick medication to help repel parasites.

Finally, making your space tick-free can be the ultimate pest preventative! Call Mosquito Joe today at 1-855-275-2563 or request a quote online to make your backyard tick-free and your pets carefree!