Ticks
Michigan summers are undoubtedly one of the most beautiful times of the year.  We have loads of sunshine, gorgeous sunsets and beaches, great hiking and camping spots, and an endless amount of other outdoor activities to keep us all busy for 3 or 4 months out of the year.  Some of those outdoor activities, however, may increase our likelihood of coming in contact with some pretty pesky bugs.  There are bees, wasps, mosquitoes, ants and fleas, but many families are most concerned about ticks, especially due to the fear of developing Lyme Disease after a bite.
Most tick bites are actually harmless.  The majority of ticks in our area are American dog ticks (76%), and carry no risk of Lyme Disease at all.  These ticks are most active from May through July, and are one of the larger tick species (about the size of an appleseed).  They are brown and have characteristic white lines on the female.  Blacklegged deer ticks only account for about 15% of the ticks in our area and are much smaller (about the size of a sesame seed), have dark brown bodies, a black head, and black legs.  These little guys do have the potential to spread the disease, albeit very unlikely.  If you follow the link here:
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/emergingdiseases/5commonticks_282020_7.pdf you’ll be able to see the difference between the ticks, plus a couple of others that may be found in Michigan.
The most important piece of information I can give you, is that even if you or your child are bitten by a deer tick, it does NOT mean you’ll develop Lyme Disease!  Only about 2% of blacklegged deer ticks actually transmit Lyme Disease, even if embedded in the skin.  Because of this, we will likely not treat with antibiotics unless the risk is high.  Something that many of you may not know is that a tick must be on the host for 36-48 hours before the bacteria can even be spread to a human.  This is why it is important to check yourself and your child every day if you either live in, or have been in an area that ticks may live.
So now lets talk about how to prevent tick bites in the first place.
  1. If in an area where ticks are likely to be, check your child as soon as they come inside, making sure to include the hair/scalp and ears.
  2. Wear long clothing when hiking in areas known to have ticks and tuck the pants into socks if possible.
  3. Wear bug spray with up to 30% Deet on the exposed skin, socks and shoes.
  4. Apply tick repellent containing permethrin (Duranon) to the clothing.  This does not work on the skin, however, so only apply to the clothes.
In the event that a tick is found to be embedded in the skin:
  1. Try to identify the type of tick as either an American dog tick or a blacklegged deer tick.
  2. If an American dog tick:
    1. Grasp the tick with tweezers, as close to the skin as possible.
    2. Pull the tick straight upward without twisting or crushing it.
    3. There are also tick tools you can use, one that works well is “TickEase.”
    4. Using petroleum jelly, rubbing alcohol, or nail polish remover does NOT work.  You should also never touch the tick with something very hot or cold, as this also does not help and would pose more risk to your child.
    5. If the head is still in the skin after removing, wash the area with rubbing alcohol and remove what you can with clean tweezers.  The skin will eventually push out the remaining parts if only a small portion is left in the skin.  If most of the head remains in the skin, please call us.

If a black-legged deer tick:

    1. If swollen, use the same instructions under the American dog tick.
    2. If not swollen (flat), you’ll need to scrape the tick with either a credit card or your fingernail
    3. Once the tick is removed, wash the area (and your hands) with soap and water and apply triple antibiotic ointment one time.  This will help prevent any disease spread.
Call your doctor if:
  1. You can’t remove the tick/most of the head
  2. If you identify a deer tick and it is swollen or on more than 36 hours.
  3. Fever or headache develop within 2 weeks of the bite.
  4. Widespread rash develops within 2 weeks of the bite.
  5. A bullseye rash appears (usually within 4 weeks of the tick bite).  You can see an example of what it looks like here: https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/signs_symptoms/rashes.html
  6. Your child looks or acts very ill
  7. Your child becomes weak, develops drooping of the face or a crooked smile
  8. The bite appears infected
  9. If it has been more than 48 hours since the bite and the redness from the bite is increasing in size.
  10. You are concerned about your child and want to be seen.