Tick Bites: Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention | Easy-to-Understand Guide

Tick bites can be more than just a nuisance. Unlike other bug bites, tick bites can transmit serious diseases. It's important to know how to identify tick bites, recognize symptoms of tick-borne illnesses, treat bites properly, and prevent future bites.

How to Identify Tick Bites

Ticks are small, often hard to see, and their bites are usually painless. When a tick bites you, it burrows its head into your skin and feeds on your blood for several days. You may notice:

• A small red bump

• Redness around the bite, sometimes 1-2 inches wide

• The tick itself, which may look like a small fleck of dirt

Ticks commonly bite in warm, moist, or hairy areas like the scalp, behind the ear, armpits, groin, and between fingers and toes.

Tick Bite Symptoms

Tick bites often cause a skin reaction, even if they don't transmit a disease. Common symptoms include:

• A small, hard bump or sore

• Redness and swelling

• Rarely, pus (only if infected)

Tick-borne diseases can cause additional symptoms like body aches, chills, fatigue, fever, and headache. Some diseases also cause rashes, such as:

• Lyme disease: A expanding red rash, sometimes resembling a bull's-eye

• Rocky Mountain spotted fever: Small, flat, pink spots on wrists and ankles that may turn red or purple

• Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI): A red bull's-eye rash similar to Lyme disease

• Tularemia: A painful open sore at the bite site

• Ehrlichiosis: Various rashes more common in children

How to Treat a Tick Bite

If you find a tick attached to your skin, follow these steps:

1. Using tweezers, gently pull the tick straight out. Don't twist or squeeze it.

2. Save the tick in a sealed container for testing, if needed.

3. Wash your hands and the bite site with soap and water.

4. See a doctor if you can't remove the entire tick, develop a rash, or experience flu-like symptoms.

Seek emergency care if you have symptoms of a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or tick paralysis, which can make it difficult to move or breathe.

Preventing Tick Bites

To reduce your risk of tick bites:

• Avoid tall grass, brush, and wooded areas where ticks live.

• Treat clothing with permethrin and skin with insect repellents containing EPA-approved ingredients.

• Walk in the center of trails and avoid brushing against vegetation.

• Check your body, pets, clothing, and gear for ticks after being outdoors.

• Shower within 2 hours of coming indoors and wash clothing in hot water to remove any ticks.

For more information on ticks and tick-borne diseases, visit the CDC's tick website or consult your healthcare provider.