|
the_bruce
Apr 11, 2006, 4:23 AM
Post #1 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Apr 11, 2006
Posts: 7
|
I searched the posts for "ticks" to see if anyone had any good advice for avoiding them and didn't find much.
I was out bouldering at Indian Rocks (South-Eastern Idaho) this past weekend and was covered with them - yuck. Anyway, one of the little buggers managed to get a drink off me.
This leads to my questions:
1) What do you guys do to get them off? I used heat to back it out but ended up scorching it before it was all the way out.
2) What do you use to keep them from getting on you?
Peace,
Bruce
www.seiclimbing.com
|
|
|
|
|
vegastradguy
Apr 11, 2006, 4:41 AM
Post #2 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 28, 2002
Posts: 5919
|
In reply to: 2) What do you use to keep them from getting on you?
long pants, long sleeves always for climbing outings. we also always stop and check after going through certain bushes for ticks- the ones out here are pretty big so they are easily spotted. one good flick returns them to their hunt for fresh blood.
|
|
|
|
|
sbaclimber
Apr 11, 2006, 4:42 AM
Post #3 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jan 22, 2004
Posts: 3118
|
Wear a dog/cat collar :wink:
Thankfully, I haven't had to climb or hike in too many heavily tick infested areas, with Scotland being the one exception.
I am not sure if there is much you can do as for repellent. Normal insect repellent might(???) help though. The best thing is probably to wear long pants with the legs tucked into your socks.
Tweasers work fine normally for getting them out (you can even buy special ones). You just have to be careful to neither squeeze the little bugger too hard nor pull on it too hard, either will cause the head to pop off and stay in your skin.
|
|
|
|
|
fear
Apr 11, 2006, 4:43 AM
Post #4 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jun 16, 2003
Posts: 475
|
Plus at least here in CT, you're pretty much guaranteed Lyme disease once you get bitten. I know more people that have had Lyme than haven't... It's also killed multiple pets of mine.
Freeze them using a can of compressed air(office supply store) flipped upside down so the liquid comes out. It'll sting a bit and don't go overboard. Couple of directed blasts. Then get them off use a pair of very small tweezers grasping as close to the head as you can and gently pull. You want to avoid squeezing the body with the head in.
Nailpolish sometimes works too....
Deet works the best for chemical repellents. Applied to clothing and skin mainly around your legs and footwear.
The best bet is to not get them on you. Avoid grasses, low shrubs, etc. We're really paranoid around here. If you have to go through a tall grassy area, check yourself afterwards. Light colored clothing really helps. Tyvek painter suits taped at the ankle and wrist are even better if you have to say wallow through a mile of deep grass (don't laugh).
Nasty things....
-Fear
|
|
|
|
|
brent_e
Apr 11, 2006, 4:44 AM
Post #5 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Dec 15, 2004
Posts: 5111
|
do you have any lime disease in your area??? :shock:
I had one on me once and took meds for a couple weeks just in case. To keep them off, tuck your pants into your socks, long sleeves, and CHECK yourself. I think you're supposed to pull them out with needlenose pliers ensuring that you get the mouth parts out (they they are still there you can get infected).
I don't know if DEET does anything to repel them.
Brent
|
|
|
|
|
thabadcharacter
Apr 11, 2006, 5:06 AM
Post #6 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: May 23, 2005
Posts: 52
|
DO NOT use a matchhead or any other heat source to back the tick out. It can cause the tick to release some nasty stuff, as well as there being the possibility of the entire tick not unscrewing and leaving fragments.
The best way to get them off is to rub the area with a little Deet, or tobacco (works great on leeches too!) and then carefully tweeze them off. Unless you live in an area affected by Lyme disease you should be safe.
|
|
|
|
|
so
Apr 11, 2006, 6:29 AM
Post #7 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 18
|
I've never had to try this, but I've met people that swear its true. Since ticks breathe through their abdomens you can rub vasoline over the top of them (or peanut butter? you're probably more likely to have that handy), and once they start to suffocate they'll crawl out on their own accord. Then you can smash 'em.
|
|
|
|
|
roklizard
Apr 11, 2006, 6:44 AM
Post #8 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 13, 2006
Posts: 13
|
ticks suk no worries in the sonoran desert now. no ticks, scorpions and rattlers :lol:
|
|
|
|
|
overlord
Apr 11, 2006, 7:18 AM
Post #9 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 14120
|
In reply to: 1) What do you guys do to get them off? I used heat to back it out but ended up scorching it before it was all the way out.
do not use heat.
i prefer to use tweezers to grip the sucker as near the skin as possible and then turn it counter clockwise and carefuly pull out. you can suffocate the abstartd with some facial cream or oily lotion or oil beforehand if youd like, but i prefer not to because it can release the things you dont really want while dying.
another thing that works sometimes is to use some heavy saline solution. well, not really a solution, but wet salt. the only time i used it, the sucker released imediately.
In reply to: 2) What do you use to keep them from getting on you?
long pants and shirts wont do you any good because they can and do crawl underneath clothing. except if youve really got the chlothing thight around the entry points. the only thing that helps for me is bug repellant.
edited to say that i already killed one this year. and that was on about the third climbable day this season.
|
|
|
|
|
spivey
Apr 11, 2006, 9:04 AM
Post #10 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Oct 14, 2003
Posts: 82
|
So uh related question... Chiggers. I used to have all sorts of chigger bites. There seems to be no cureing them. How do I get rid of chigger bites after i got em? and what all can i do to prevent them. Long clothes doesnt always seem to help
|
|
|
|
|
dirtineye
Apr 11, 2006, 12:17 PM
Post #11 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 29, 2003
Posts: 5590
|
Overlord is right, you have to get em down at the head and tweezers work well for this.
You should not squeeze or heat the body of the tick, this will force tick crud into you. That's bad.
IF you do leave the head in your bite, it will get pretty nasty, and infected,even if you don't get some horrible tick borne disease.
I like the idea about wet salt, I think I will try that if I get another tick bite.
About chiggers, once you have em, you are stuck with em. Irritating and annoying, and gross, and creepy, but not dangerous. Try bug repellent.
|
|
|
|
|
kpb
Apr 11, 2006, 12:59 PM
Post #12 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 3, 2005
Posts: 55
|
NO, NO, NO...
Vaseline, nail polish, etc. will do nothing but allow the tick to continue its feeding cycle, increasing the likelihood of the transmission of organisms to the host (you).
Burning, freezing, twisting...All bad.
Pull the thing out gently, and directly from as close to your skin as possible. As dirtineye says, don't squeeze the body and squirt more of its juice into you than is necessary. Drop it in a small amount of alcohol or throw it in a fire. Clean your hands, the skin surrounding the bite, and the tweezers thoroughly, preferably with alcohol.
|
|
|
|
|
rock_fencer
Apr 11, 2006, 1:19 PM
Post #13 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jan 7, 2005
Posts: 752
|
i dunno, i was taught somewhere in my earlier years to get them off with a hot knife. Its worked well in my experience if you dont mind a small mild burn on your skin, but its better to avoid getting them stuck on you
|
|
|
|
|
kpb
Apr 11, 2006, 1:25 PM
Post #14 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 3, 2005
Posts: 55
|
In reply to: i dunno, i was taught somewhere in my earlier years to get them off with a hot knife. Its worked well in my experience if you dont mind a small mild burn on your skin, but its better to avoid getting them stuck on you
That's nice. In my early years, I was taught to rub butter on a burn. That doesn't mean it's a good thing to do. (It's a terrible thing to do.) I'll bet that your early years were before the current rate of lyme disease infection.
|
|
|
|
|
climbrox391
Apr 11, 2006, 1:32 PM
Post #15 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 17, 2005
Posts: 65
|
For the chigger question, I've always heard nail polish over the bite marks will kill them, haven't tried it myself, but it may be somewhere to start.
|
|
|
|
|
rugbynerd
Apr 26, 2006, 3:31 AM
Post #16 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 18, 2006
Posts: 8
|
The two things that can repel ticks are DEET and permethrin. DEET is great short term and for putting on where your skin is showing, permethrin is great long-term (it stays on your clothes for a couple washes, but you shouldn't put it on your skin). Neither one is entirely fool-proof though.
Ticks should always be removed with forceps gripping as close to the point of attachment as possible (as stated in Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine). Lots of good diseases (lyme, babesiosis, erhlichiosis, etc.) can be prevented by removing the tick within 48 hours (others are more rapidly transmitted-- rickettsia=spotted fever, anaplasmosis, etc.).
|
|
|
|
|
getsomeethics
Apr 26, 2006, 4:07 AM
Post #17 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: May 2, 2002
Posts: 313
|
been climbing on the bears hump in waterton lakes NP and usually find at least 2 wandering around my neck by the time i get back home. have not had any attached and feeding yet (knock,knock).
i put them in a vial and take them to the biologists at work, where they are testing them for lyme disease etc. have not heard any results yet. it is an on-going study in the park.
i wear long pants and sleeves which may keep them outta me clothes. having a shaved head makes them easy to locate.
have not tried bug dope yet, but might as the tick season peaks.
|
|
|
|
|
clmbrdancer
Apr 26, 2006, 4:56 AM
Post #18 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Dec 15, 2003
Posts: 80
|
A study was done on tick removal:
http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~acarolog/tickgone.htm
Abstract
We evaluated three commercially available tick removal tools against medium-tipped tweezers. Three inexperienced users randomly removed attached American dog ticks (Dermacentor variabilis ) and lone star ticks (Amblyomma americanum L.), from laboratory rabbits in a university animal facility. Tick damage occurring from removal and quantity of attachment cement were compared. No tool removed nymphs without damage and all tools removed adults of both species successfully. American dog ticks proved easier to remove than lone star ticks, whose mouthparts often remained in the skin. Nymphal ticks were consistently removed more successfully with commercial tools when compared to tweezers. The commercial tick removal tools tested were functional for removal of nymphs and adults, and should be considered as viable alternatives to medium-tipped tweezers. Most importantly, use of these tools may encourage reluctant people to promptly remove ticks rather than delaying or using dangerous ineffective folk methods. When tick parasitism cannot be avoided, prompt removal is the next best alternative for reducing infection risk.
|
|
|
|
|
tattooed_climber
Apr 26, 2006, 5:00 AM
Post #19 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Dec 13, 2003
Posts: 4838
|
best way to avoid them is by covering up
and good way to remove them is by using thread...tie a thumb knot around their head/neck (as close to the skin as you can get, be gentle)...i'm use if you google, you'll get some good info
when the bugs get bad (alpine terrian maninly) i throw a bug net on, i always has on in my alpine pack..
|
|
|
|
|
altelis
Apr 26, 2006, 6:00 AM
Post #20 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 10, 2004
Posts: 2168
|
clmbrdancer and kpb: thank you. very good, informative and most importantly CORRECT posts. especially to clmberdancer for CITING your info. damn. trophy for you.
if you still have questions: go back and read kpb and clmbrdancer's posts. again. and again. especially look at the "folk remedies" in th abstract/article referenced by clmbrdancer. read the whole article.
man, that really was refreshing to read, espcially with all the awful crap that was suggested.
|
|
|
|
|
jsj42
Apr 26, 2006, 6:34 AM
Post #21 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Dec 24, 2002
Posts: 374
|
In reply to: Lots of good diseases (lyme, babesiosis, erhlichiosis, etc.) can be prevented by removing the tick within 48 hours.
This is correct. Most doctors see no need for preventative antibiotics (for Lyme Disease) if you remove the ticks within the first 48 hours.
Last year after climbing at Millbrook in the Gunks I came home and, a day later, found two ticks embedded in my sides along my ribcage (they typically stop in hairy areas or places where they can't crawl anymore so this was an odd location). I remembered hearing somewhere that you could make a little loop with some thread, lasso the head of the tick with it, and gently pull them out. I tried this and both ticks' mouthparts broke off inside my skin. Next time I'll use tweezers.
Calls to both my family doctor and my brother-in-law (a family medine resident) confirmed that they felt no need for me to worry about Lyme Disease since I got them before the first 48 hours -- even though according to the CDC homepage the geographic area I was bitten in has the highest incidence rate for Lyme Disease in the nation. They also said to leave the mouthparts in -- that my skin would force them out eventually. I couldn't stand having them there though and I dug them out myself -- they were REALLY hard to get out and I had tiny scars where they were for six months afterwards... but no Lyme Disease.
|
|
|
|
|
capn_nobeard
Apr 26, 2006, 7:22 AM
Post #22 of 22
(2784 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Dec 6, 2005
Posts: 35
|
In reply to: The following methods may induce soft ticks to withdraw their mouthparts: touching with a hot object such as a heated needle tip; dabbing with chloroform, ether or some other anaesthetic. With hard ticks these methods only work immediately after biting because they are attached with a saliva cement that prevents them from quickly withdrawing their mouthparts. In areas where ticks are only a nuisance they can be coated with oil, paraffin, vaseline or nail varnish to prevent them from obtaining oxygen. Hard ticks then dissolve the cement so that they can withdraw their mouthparts, but this may take several hours. However, these methods are not recommended in areas where ticks are vectors of disease, as they work too slowly and may cause ticks to regurgitate into wounds, injecting disease organisms. In such circumstances it is recommended to pull the ticks out immediately, even if the head is left in the wound.
from the world health organization
http://www.who.int/...vectcontrol/ch26.htm
depending on the type of tick vaseline, nail polish etc may be a good idea.
but odds are tweezing is the best option if you are unaware of a risk of infection
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
