If you’ve spent time outdoors lately, you may have noticed more ticks crawling through the grass or bushes—or perhaps even on or attached to your skin or on your family, friends, or pets.
While ticks can potentially carry and spread infections, it’s no surprise that we are seeing more of them. Every spring, the tick population increases dramatically throughout Massachusetts and the northeast United States. They will remain at their peak through August before their numbers start to dwindle, although ticks remain active through all 12 months of the year.
According to the U.S Centers on Disease Control and Prevention, ticks can be infected with bacteria, viruses, or parasites that can cause diseases, including Lyme disease, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis, tularemia, and others.
That’s why it’s important to take proactive steps to reduce these risks, from wearing appropriate clothing to considering the use of tick repellents after seeking professional advice: The Environmental Protection Agency offers an online tool to help you select the most suitable repellent for your family, or you can consult your healthcare provider.
The following suggestions could also be helpful:
When outside, avoid wooded and brush areas with high grass and leaf litter, and walk in the center of trails to avoid nearby grass, plants, bushes, and trees.
Wear light-colored clothing to make it easier to spot ticks. Long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and high boots provide an extra layer of protection. Tuck your shirt into your pants and your pants into your socks to create a barrier that ticks can’t breach.
After time outside, complete a full-body tick check on yourself and your children—especially under the arms, in and around the ears, inside the belly button, between the legs, around the waist, and in the hair.
Examine your pets frequently. Contact your pet’s veterinarian for a tick-preventative product.
To remove ticks attached to the skin: Use tweezers to grasp the tick close to the skin surface and pull it upward away from the skin with gentle, steady pressure until it releases. If parts of the tick are left in the skin and not easily removed, leave them alone and let the skin heal. Or, use a spoon-like tick remover such as Ticked Off! or Poly-Ject Quick or similar.
If needed, take a picture of the tick for future identification by healthcare professionals. Please flush the tick down the toilet or seal it in a bag before discarding.
Cleanse the area of the tick bite with soap and water.
Observe the tick bite area for signs of infection, including increased redness, swelling, and/or drainage.
Important: If a person with a tick bite develops a fever or a rash anywhere on the body over the subsequent 35 days, they should contact their healthcare provider to report the tick bite and for further assessment.
For more information about ticks and tick-borne illness, contact your school nurse or consult the following resources: