May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month so there is no better time than now to remind you about tick safety.

Awareness, education and practicing preventative measures, such as daily tick checks and proper tick removal, can help reduce your chances of contracting tick borne diseases.

Ticks like moist and humid environments and can be found in or near woods, shrubs, leaf litter, long grass, urban parks, and gardens. They are very small, which makes them hard to spot and their bites do not hurt, which makes it difficult to know when you’ve been bitten.

According to the Nova Scotia Government:

Tick-borne illnesses are preventable by taking some simple precautions.

Reduce your risk

· Wear long pants and long sleeves in areas likely to have ticks

· Wear light coloured clothing – its easier to see ticks

· Wear enclosed shoes and tuck your pants into your socks

· Walk on well-travelled paths, avoiding long grass and vegetation

· Apply insect repellents containing DEET or Icaridin to exposed skin and clothes. Follow directions on the package carefully.

Check for ticks

· Check yourself and your family for ticks after being outside

· Having a bath or shower within two hours of coming inside makes it easier to spot ticks and wash off unattached ticks

· Ticks like warm places on the body. Remember to check:

around ears

behind knees

in the hair

between the legs/groin area

around the waist

If you see a tick, remove it safely

If you have pets that spend time outside, make tick-checks part of your daily routine. Dogs cannot transmit tick-borne illnesses to people, but ticks are hitchhikers. They can enter your home on your pet and move to you or another family member.

Put clean and dry outdoor clothes in a dryer on high heat for at least 10 minutes to kill any remaining ticks

Remove a tick safely

Carefully grasp the tick with tweezers – the pointier, the better - as close to the skin as possible

Gently and slowly pull the tick straight out of the skin. Do not jerk, twist or squeeze it

Once the tick is removed, clean the area of the bite with soap and water or alcohol hand sanitizer.

Make a note of the date and where on the body the bite occurred. This will be important if you, or a loved one, begin to feel unwell.

Disposal of ticks

Once removed, flush the tick down toilet, drown in rubbing alcohol or freeze in a plastic sealed bag prior to putting in the garbage. Avoid crushing ticks with exposed fingers.

Signs and symptoms of Lyme disease

Only the black-legged tick can transmit Lyme disease, and in most cases, a tick carrying the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease must attach and feed for at least 24 hours before the bacteria can be transmitted. Lyme disease is treatable with a short course of antibiotics.

Symptoms of Lyme Disease include:

Rash (sometimes shaped like a bull's eye)

Fever

Fatigue

Muscle aches

Joint pain

Headaches

These symptoms may appear in stages or overtime. If you’ve been exploring outdoors, especially in wooded areas, forests, areas where long grasses and/or shrubs are present or have found a tick on your body, and show these symptoms, see a healthcare provider.