Forest mite. Tick ​​bite: signs, symptoms, treatment and consequences, photo Relapsing tick fever

A tick bite is, of course, not a pleasant event, but since it happened, detecting it in time and trying to remove it as soon as possible is half the victory and, in general, seriously reduces all the risks associated with their bites. The main thing at this stage is to avoid a situation in which the tick came off and part of it remained inside your skin!

Use special tweezers or a suction cup to remove the tick (it's good to have these tools in your first aid kit just in case). Not always, but most often the tick can be removed independently, without medical intervention.

What happens if the tick remains in the body?

When trying to remove the tick completely, it is important to know what to do if the tick comes off and the head remains under the skin of a person, because it is with the help of the head, or rather the proboscis and jaws, that the tick is fixed on the skin, “cements” the wound, thereby sticking tightly , and injects saliva into the blood - the carrier of dangerous infections.

Many believe that because the salivary ducts of the tick remain under the skin, the infection continues. Others believe that if a tick has bitten and the head remains, then there is nothing to worry about - that such a small foreign body can be compared with a splinter. And everyone agrees that leaving half a tick under the skin is unreasonable, because. if the mite's proboscis or antennae remains under the skin, this can, at a minimum, cause suppuration or skin irritation.

In any case, and especially if your region is considered dangerous in terms of tick-borne encephalitis, you should consult a doctor after a tick bite!

How to remove the head of a tick?

So, we came to the conclusion that removing the remnants of the tick from under the skin is a strategically important task. The main quality in this process is accuracy, one might say, jewelry precision and high-quality wound processing. To remove the head of a tick at home:

• take a thin needle and disinfect it well: with alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or by holding it over a fire;
• carefully remove stuck residues, scrape them from the wound, a magnifying glass and bright light will not be superfluous;
• now disinfect the wound with the same peroxide or iodine. Everything is pretty simple!

Is it possible to test the removed part of the tick for infection?

Here is the final question that may interest those who have successfully coped with such a critical situation as a tick that is stuck under the skin. Alas, to analyze for the encephalitis virus, ideally, you need a live one, that is, a whole tick. Not every laboratory has everything necessary to work with a dead specimen, you should find out individually about your city.

If you managed to remove the tick completely, then a hermetically sealed container and a small piece of cotton wool moistened with water inside will help bring it alive to the SES.

Tick ​​in a pet: necessary measures

In principle, the rules for removing a tick are identical for animals and humans:

• thin tweezers;
• accurate capture as close as possible to the proboscis;
• twisting clockwise;
• and ... an antiseptic for the wound.

However, due to the fact that the animal is not always sympathetic to the approaching tweezers and, most likely, will break out, there are high chances that the head of the tick will remain in the body of a cat or dog, even if you were very careful.

Therefore, it is best to consult a veterinarian to remove the tick. If there is no such possibility now, and the tick has not completely got out, then is it worth it, and if so, how to get the head of the tick from the animal?

As for animals, the methods also differ. Some say that the body of the animal itself rejects part of the tick as a foreign body, and most tick bites of animals are not dangerous. True, it still does not hurt to closely monitor the well-being of the pet, its appetite and activity, to be on the alert (the period of development of transmitted diseases is 2-3 weeks).

Others prefer to play it safe. And the method is the same as in humans - however, before pulling out the proboscis of the tick, some owners advise applying ice to the skin of the animal as a small anesthesia, because the operation with a needle and subsequent disinfection can be very painful.

How many people, so many opinions! To make a decision about your pet, consult with a trusted veterinarian.

The common version that a forest tick falls on a person from a tree - an oak, is, oddly enough, erroneous. Ticks hide where you don't expect to see them. On the branches of bushes, in the grass, along the edges of trodden paths, in thickets.

This blood-sucking arthropod has a very strong instinct and instantly “rushes” at a person or animal as soon as they appear nearby.

Ticks are activated in the period from April to September - until the first frost. The most dangerous period is from late April to July. Ticks live in forest and park areas where there is no direct sunlight and the temperature does not exceed 20 degrees. So be careful when entering places of forest coolness.

Ticks are the size of a match head. The female who has collected blood reaches the size of a pea. Ticks are absorbed into the skin of humans and animals with the help of a proboscis. Moreover, the male does this for a short time and soon disappears on his own; the female is very dangerous for humans and animals. And in order to get rid of it, intervention from outside is necessary.

When bitten, it releases a special substance that acts on the principle of anesthesia. This means that you will not feel the bite itself. This means you won't be able to respond quickly.

What does a tick bite look like

Most often, a tick bite is detected before the tick has time to fall off. And this means that you will see a red speck - a common reaction to a bite - and the top of a protruding body. The usual reddening diameter is 1 cm. What a tick bite looks like - see the photo below.

If you did not manage to pull out the tick completely (we will write how to do it correctly a little later), and the tentacles, paws - BUT NOT THE HEAD - do not try to pick out the rest. The body itself will reject it, it will be enough just to lubricate the affected area with brilliant green. But if the spot does not disappear or decrease within a few days, this is already a reason to see a doctor.

What should I do if bitten by a tick

IMPORTANT! First of all, don't panic or you'll do something stupid. Therefore, read carefully how to properly pull out a tick.

Do not use tweezers or sharp forceps, all for the same reason. Gently use your hands to slowly pull the insect counterclockwise. You can also try to make a loop out of the thread and slowly pull it up, spreading its ends to the sides.

You can also try lubricating the bite site. sunflower oil and leave for 15 min. This should greatly simplify the procedure.

It is not recommended to use alcohol, vodka, acetone and other doubtful liquids in this case - you need to pull the tick alive from the wound. If the head remains in the wound, most often, this promises trouble. From inflammation and decay to what people are afraid of ticks for - encephalitis.

Therefore, try not to crush the insect so that saliva and stomach contents do not get into the wound, and with them the ill-fated virus.

Symptoms of a tick bite

It is not worth falling into hysterics when bitten by a tick. First, not all and not every tick is infected with encephalitis. Even if the insect is contagious, it releases a substance from a day to three, and during this time you will have time to get rid of it.

But if the redness after getting rid of the tick does not go away, you should go to the doctor. As well as with a deterioration in well-being. Since the incubation (hidden) period in encephalitis can last up to 3 months, after a tick bite, you should carefully consider your body. During this time, headache, weakness, drowsiness, apathy, loss of appetite, fever up to 37 - 37.5 degrees may occur. Further, the disease begins to develop sharply: fever appears, severe pain in muscles, cramps, disorder nervous system… etc.

How to protect yourself from a tick bite

Prepare well before heading into the forest. Choose clothes made of thick fabrics with long sleeves and legs. It is desirable that the bottom of the pants and sleeves are elasticated. Socks should be long. It is desirable that they be pulled over the pants - although this is not an attractive sight. The neck is closed.

Also use special means to repel ticks - "Deta", "Taiga", "Biban", "DEFI-Taiga", "Off! Extreme”, “Gall-RET”, “Gal-RET-cl”, “Deta-VOKKO”, “Reftamid maximum” and others.

Treat them with places of possible penetration of an insect. Wrists, neck, waist, ankles.

NECESSARILY! After the walk, inspect yourself and your companions for tick bites. Carefully examine the head, pinnae, and behind the ears, neck, collarbone, armpits, arms, chest, back, and groin.

In case of detection of an arthropod bite, proceed as you read above.

With the onset of warming, there is a high probability of finding a tick bite on the body. In summer, this problem becomes especially relevant, ticks are more common. A tick bite can cause irreparable harm to human health, cause disability or even death, so the problem should be taken seriously.

How to protect yourself from a tick bite? What to do if bitten by a tick? Let's look into these issues in detail.

The consequences of such a bite are extremely severe (in case of infection and refusal of treatment):

• paralyzes the body;
• have breathing problems;
• brain activity decreases;
• death is possible.

If a person has suffered from a “sterile” tick, then the complications may not be so dangerous:

• suppuration of the affected area;
• the occurrence of an allergic reaction;
• the appearance of edema, even Quincke's edema is possible.

It is impossible to independently determine whether an infectious tick has stuck or not. Their appearance and color does not depend whether they are infected or not. If bitten by an infected tick, early treatment can save the victim's life.

How long does it take for a tick bite to show symptoms?

The first symptoms appear after 2-3 hours in the form of. After a week or later, the symptoms described above may appear.

How is a tick bite different from other insect bites?

How to find out which insect has bitten and left characteristic marks on the skin? There will be one spot, there will not be the same in the neighborhood, the redness will increase every hour, an allergic reaction may be observed. Bedbugs, for example, bite in several places at once, fleas too. The bite of a mosquito and a midge is much smaller than a tick.

Can a tick bite without sucking?

Can a tick bite through clothes and pantyhose?

Why do ticks drink blood and how much do they need?

Ticks drink blood in order to get enough and leave offspring. Females will not be able to lay eggs in a hungry state, they definitely need blood. How long can a tick suck blood? From several minutes to several hours, and females, as a rule, stay on the body of the victim longer. It should be noted that most of the time the tick is on the skin of a person or animal in search of a place for suction, so if the tick has not yet stuck, it should be brushed off as soon as possible (no need to press it on yourself like a mosquito, you can bring an infection under the skin) . On average, an adult sucks blood for 1-2 hours, after which it disappears.

How much blood can a tick drink at one time?

Hungry individuals of the ixodid tick weigh from 2 to 15 mg, and sated from 200 to 1200 mg, which is many times their own weight. In one bite, a tick can deflate up to 1000 mg human blood. The size of a hungry tick does not exceed 4 mm, and a full one can reach 3 cm, becoming similar in size to a corn seed.

The photo compares two ticks on the body of a cat - a recently sucked and already drunk blood.

Does a tick die after being bitten?

Some people seriously think that a tick dies after it bites a person, but this is not at all the case. Apparently it is confused with a wasp or a bee, which dies after being stung. A tick, on the contrary, only benefits from a bite, this is its nutrition, which contributes to further development and reproduction. A hungry tick will not be able to leave offspring, so biting people and animals is a vital necessity for him.

How dangerous is a tick bite for a person?

A tick can serve as a carrier of a fairly extensive list of diseases, so after pulling out a tick, it is better to save it for tests to determine infections (encephalitis, borreliosis, called Lyme disease), this is done in the laboratory at the infectious diseases hospital. It is worth noting that the presence of viruses in an insect does not guarantee that the bite victim will also get sick. It is necessary to examine the insect for peace of mind if the result is negative, and for timely treatment - if an infection is confirmed.

Most often transmitted and pose a huge threat to human life - and. Scientists have proven that the chance of getting infected from a tick is unlikely, since 90% of ticks, according to studies, are not infected. Although minimal, but the chance exists.

Is it possible to get infected from a tick if it crawled through the body?

If the tick just crawled over the surface of the skin, it is impossible to get infected from it. The first stage of infection begins precisely from the moment the tick sucks and injects an anesthetic substance under the skin. So if a tick crawls over you, brush it off as soon as possible and, if possible, with fire.

Bitten by a tick - what to do: first aid

If a tick is crawling on you, immediately shake it off, and if it has already stuck, then remove it as soon as possible and store it in a jar with moistened cotton wool or blades of grass to deliver it alive to the laboratory for the study and diagnosis of infections.

Treat the wound with an antiseptic. If signs of allergy are observed - severe redness and swelling of the bite site, immediately give the victim an antiallergic agent. You can purchase the drugs "Zirtek", "Suprastin", "Prednisolone" (spread the bite site): the dosage regimen of the drugs is individual. The action of one tablet is enough for a whole day. These antihistamines are actively used to eliminate the allergic effects of a bite. Taking the pill is not recommended for individual intolerance to the components. Perhaps the development of hypokalemia, sleep disturbances, flatulence and negative nitrogen balance.

If the encephalitis virus has entered the human body, the drug "Ribonuclease" is prescribed for treatment. The drug is administered 6 times a day intramuscularly, in a hospital. The dose is prescribed by the attending physician. The use of Ribonuclease is not recommended for respiratory failure, tuberculosis and bleeding. There is a risk of developing allergic conditions.

How to pull out a tick?

1. Movements in a circle counterclockwise, as if unscrewing a screw, pull it out of the skin with tweezers. Be careful not to break off the head of the tick.
2. If you had to extract the bloodsucker in nature, and there were no tweezers nearby, an ordinary thread will help. With its help, the proboscis is tied near the very surface of the skin and pulled out with light jerks.
3. After removal, you need to make sure that the tick is intact, put it in an airtight container and deliver it to the clinic for analysis as soon as possible.
4. Lubricate the surface near the bite with any antiseptic.

People often advise treating the affected area with oil, kerosene, gasoline and other liquids so that the tick crawls out on its own. This action is erroneous - the tick will try to dive even deeper under the skin. But if the insect then crawls out, its body will not be able to be examined in the laboratory.

What to do if the head of the tick remains under the skin?

The head of the tick may remain under the skin in case of careless, excessively sharp removal. It looks like a small splinter, so some are negligent about removing it, saying “the tick is dead, it no longer sucks out blood, it will fall off by itself” or simply do not notice. But it is not recommended to do so. Left under the skin, the proboscis of the tick will provoke inflammation and suppuration of the wound. Therefore, do not leave the head or proboscis of the tick under the skin, waiting for them to fall off on their own.

Take a sharp needle disinfected in alcohol and pick the remaining proboscis and remove it. After a bite, a small wound will remain on the skin, which will heal quickly if the tick was not contagious. Treat the bite site with peroxide, then brilliant green or iodine. If, use Fenistil gel or a similar remedy that relieves itching. Try not to scratch the inflamed area so that the healing process goes faster.

To prevent the head of the tick from remaining under the skin, cling to it as close as possible to the suction point.

What disease can be contracted from a tick bite?

After a tick bite, a person develops various ailments - from ordinary irritation to severe or fatal illness:

Modern drugs can completely cure infections that are transmitted by a tick, provided that it is detected in a timely manner and treatment is started immediately.

Signs of infection with tick-borne encephalitis

According to doctors, the symptoms of this encephalitis are detected after 10-14 days from the moment the victim was bitten by a tick. What to do? There is no need to panic, often elevated body temperature and muscle pain can be a manifestation of a protective psychological response of the body after fright and worries.

The onset of the disease goes through certain stages:

1. Causeless and short chills, fever up to 40 degrees. According to the clinical signs of the formation of encephalitis, this period is more similar to infection with the flu.
2. After some time, the patient may experience symptoms: nausea and vomiting, bouts of severe headache. At this stage, all symptoms indicate a gastrointestinal disorder.
3. A few days later, the patient suddenly develops symptoms of arthritis or arthrosis. Pain in the head passes, they are replaced by aches of the whole body. The patient's movements are very difficult, there are problems with breathing. The skin on the face and body turns red and becomes swollen, purulent abscesses appear at the site of the bite.
4. Further, the symptoms only worsen, because the infection enters the patient's circulatory system and begins its destructive work. Delay can lead to death!

If a tick is found on the body, it should be removed immediately. This procedure can be carried out independently or go to the hospital. Health workers can easily pull it out and run a series of tests. Only in laboratory conditions can you accurately determine whether this tick is dangerous. If treatment is necessary, it is necessary to unconditionally follow the recommendations and prescriptions of the attending physician so that the effectiveness of the treatment is maximum.

Treatment of tick-borne encephalitis

What to do if the head of the tick remains in the human body, there are several options for behavior - remove it yourself, seek help from specialists, treat it with medicine, wait until it comes out on its own. At home, you can carefully carry out the operation, but if the wound has festered, it is better to go to the clinic.

What happens if the head of the tick remains in the human body

There are several opinions about this. One part of the people is sure that there is nothing to worry about. After a few days, it will be rejected by the body on its own. Another part of the victims insists that if the head of the tick remains inside the wound, it must be removed. In the future, this situation is dangerous for the development of a purulent process, infection.

On a note!

Viruses are concentrated in the salivary glands, which are transmitted to humans when. If it was not possible to pull out the tick completely, the head remains in the skin, the infection process continues. The main difficulty of the situation is that a piece of the pest is no longer possible, to find out if there is a virus in the body, you need to wait 2 weeks for.

How to pull out the proboscis

• Treat the skin around with medical alcohol, any alcohol tincture. Disinfect a sharp needle, gently pick up, pull out the tick's sting.
• Lubricate the location of the particles of the body, head with iodine. After a couple of days, the proboscis of the tick will come out on its own.

There are several ways to get the head of a tick.

If independent actions do not give the desired result, you need to seek help from specialists. Under sterile conditions, the doctor makes an incision, removes the foreign body.

Is it possible to hand over the head for analysis

Ticks lie in wait for people most often at the very beginning of spring, when the sun is just starting to warm up, and everything around is blooming and green. Going for a walk in the forest, people are unaware of the danger and only then notice the insect that has stuck to the body. The armpits and groin area are favorite places for ticks, but usually when going to the forest they are well protected, so the tick can stick to any other part of the body.

Why are ticks dangerous?

Ticks live in forests, parks and forested areas. They search for their “prey” by smell, thus determining the approach of a person. The main danger lies in the fact that ticks are very small insects, it is almost impossible to notice them in nature. Therefore, after each walk through the forest, you need to carefully examine the skin and hair.

The tick can be the causative agent of such dangerous diseases as encephalitis and borreliosis. Each of them can proceed in a mild form, and can end in death. Of course, not every insect carries a virus in itself, but this can only be determined if you hand over the bug that bit you for analysis.

What to do with a tick bite?

To minimize the danger during a tick bite, you need to notice it in time and immediately pull it out of the body. You can’t waste time traveling to the nearest medical institution, since during this time the tick can release a large amount of secretion into the blood, which is the source of infection.

You will have to pull out the tick yourself and urgently. Remove the insect by grabbing it with tweezers. Gently twist his body counterclockwise until you pull the tick out. Another option is to use a thread instead of tweezers. There are others folk recipes removal of mites from the body, but doctors recommend removing insects only by mechanical means so as not to cause more harm to a person.

What to do if the head of the tick remains in the body?

If you pull sharply with tweezers or a thread while pulling out a tick, then its body will come off, and the head will remain inside the person. Outside, it will look like a small black dot, which is not always visible. The head of the tick, of course, must be removed from the wound, after which it must be treated with a disinfectant - hydrogen peroxide, brilliant green or iodine.

Some advise to treat it like a splinter, that is, sterilize an ordinary needle in alcohol and use it to pull out the tick's proboscis, but it is better to seek qualified surgical help. If you have contracted a disease, it has already happened. And self-extraction of the head of the tick can be fraught with festering of the wound. You can immediately come to the emergency room, where the surgeon will make a small incision and remove the head.

Another piece of advice that can often be found on forums is to leave the head of the tick in the body so that it will later come out on its own. In this case, the wound will fester, and the proboscis will come out with pus, but this option is dangerous, especially if the tick is the causative agent of encephalitis or borreliosis.

When contacting a doctor, it will be good if you save the body of the tick. After his examination in the sanitary and epidemiological station, specialists will be able to say for sure whether he was contagious or not, but, regardless of this, the doctor will prescribe preventive treatment to minimize the risk. If the head of the tick remains in the body, then the risk is significantly increased, which is why a visit to the doctor is necessary even in the absence of symptoms of the disease.

After a tick bite and removal, a small wound remains, which gradually heals. If an incision has been made, healing will take longer. Treat the bite site periodically and try not to scratch it.