Lyme disease is caused by the bite of a black-legged tick that is infected with corkscrew-shaped bacteria known as Borrelia burgdorferi. The ticks become infected with these bacteria by feeding on infected wild animals such as deers, birds and rodents.
Once infected, the ticks go on to spread the bacteria to humans and other animals, particularly dogs, with a painless bite.
Symptoms Of Lyme Disease
Symptoms of Lyme disease can surface after weeks, or even many years from a bite, that one would not even link the symptoms to a tick bite that wasn’t even painful.
Symptoms of Lyme disease can include any of the following, although they differ from person to person. If left untreated, these symptoms can last from months to years.
Early signs and symptoms (first few weeks after a tick bite):
skin rash around the bite site
flu-like symptoms
fever or chills
sore throat
headache
nausea
Later signs and symptoms (weeks or months after a tick bite):
muscle spasms
severe headaches and neck stiffness
extreme fatigue
shooting pains, numbness or tingling sensations in limbs
swollen lymph nodes
blurry vision, eye pain or swelling
night sweats or unexplained chills
In more severe cases, these symptoms may be crippling:
brain fog, state of confusion or memory loss
difficulty breathing, eating, talking and sleeping
abnormal heartbeat
intermittent pain in tendons, joints, muscles and bones
partial body paralysis
nervous system disorders (even seizures)
More About Ticks
A full grown tick can be the size of a pea. They are often found among tall grass and bushes and can easily attach on to human legs/clothings or animals passing by. Ticks become active when the weather warms up from spring through fall.
Ticks are small, blood-sucking bugs. They are arachnids—from the spider family—(not insects), and thus have eight legs.
Tick bites are often harmless and may not cause noticeable symptoms. However, bites from infected ticks can be dangerous or even deadly.
Ticks like warm and moist areas of the body. Once they get on your body, they move on to look for a desirable spot, bite and draw blood. Unlike insect bites, ticks remain attached to your skin after biting, and grow larger in size from the blood drawn.
At the time of drawing blood, the Lyme-infected tick will plant the borrelia bacteria deep into the skin and into the blood stream, causing an infection.
Lyme disease is becoming one of the fastest emerging infectious diseases in North America that is moving northward from endemic areas of the United States towards southeast Canada.
Protect Yourself
Prevention Is Best
If you know that you will be venturing into forests or overgrown areas where Lyme-infected ticks are found, here are some ways you can protect yourself when you’re outdoor:
Avoid walking through wooded and bushy areas with tall grass.
Wear light-colored clothes to spot ticks easier.
Wear closed-toe shoes and pull sock over pant legs.
Wear long-sleeved shirts or use an insect repellent.
Bathe or shower as soon as possible after coming from outdoors (within 2 hours) to wash off and find ticks that may be crawling on you.
Check your children and pets thoroughly for ticks that may hide under the arms, in and around the ears, inside the belly button and in their hair.
Examine clothings and/or put them into a dryer on high heat to kill ticks, if any.
If You’ve Been Bitten
Ticks attach themselves to the skin. By removing them soon enough—within 12 hours—you may be able to prevent infection. Do not panic and rub off or crush the tick as this may break off the mouth-parts and leave the sting in the skin. Crushing the tick with your fingers may also get the bacteria on your fingers.
As with insects that bite/sting, the poison or bacteria is in the sting. You can carefully remove the tick to minimize the impact of the bite.
Use a fine-pointed tweezer, and with a steady hand, grasp the tick as close to the skin surface as possible.
Slowly pull the tick straight out without twisting or jerking to prevent the mouth-parts to break and remain in the skin.
If the mouth-parts are already broken, try to remove them as much as you can without causing further distress to the affected area.
Clean the bite area with alcohol or a disinfectant. Undiluted apple cider vinegar can work as a natural disinfectant as well.
Put the dead tick in a sandwich bag, write the date you were bitten, and take it to the doctor when you start experiencing any of the symptoms mentioned above.