Ticks

[Weezy]

What do many of you use to prevent ticks? After camping Thursday and Friday, I found a tick on my four year old, and my DH found two on himself. We got them off quickly and cleaned the areas. I would love to find an effective lotion or spray that they avoid.

Thanks!!!

[TroutBum]

Here is a tip sheet from the American Camp Association.  They are, if I am not mistaken, the licensing body for summer camps in the USA.


http://www.acacamps.org/staff/nature/cm/tick.php

There is also a nasty little chemical known as permethrin, which you can use to treat tents, screen rooms, etc.  It is available as a wash additive.  I wash my hiking socks in it.  Since I wear sock liners when hiking, I don't have to worry about it against my skin.  The stuff is nasty, but it is a residual, and kills ticks, mosquitos, etc. for about a week.

Besides that, you are doing the right thing.  I have found the best preventative is just to check each other often.

Hope this helps.

[flyfisherman]

We've had a lot of sucess with Sawyer Insect Repellents, everything from ticks to what flies.

http://www.pestproducts.com/ticks1.htm


Hope this may offer some helpful information.



Fly

[TroutBum]

I think it is funny that the two trout bums are the ones responding to the tick question.  

Done a bit of bushwackin' in your time as well FF?

[flyfisherman]

I think it is funny that the two trout bums are the ones responding to the tick question.  

Done a bit of bushwackin' in your time as well FF?

Ticks, skeeters, gnats, black flys, trout streams and the boonies all go together, a way of life!



Fly

[SkipP]

Nothing to offer but I'm following this thread too! Took a trip down to Fly's corner of the world for some photography in the Green Swamp and five ticks hopped a ride home with me.
 
I'd love to find something that keeps these hitch hikers from catching a free ride too...they really tick me off!
 
Some pics from the trip: www.pbase.com/skipp35

[Spoon]

100% deet works great, but stinks. If everyone is wearing it no problem. You wont smell it after a while and will almost forget you have it on.
Brands like Cutter, Off, ect are good, just look for the deet content. Permethrin works well too but as said before added to the wash, and not applied directly to the skin.

Ticks like areas were your clothing contacts your skin, socks, beltline ect. I have found them in many different locations. Once found and properly removed keep an eye on the bite area for swelling or redness after a few days. Lyme's disease is carried by ticks, and is curable when caught early. My mother contracted the disease from a tick bite while working in the yard, she has a very wooded lot. Once she noted the red ring forming she saw her physician and was treated. She is fine now, but more cautious for sure.

We used to frequent a beach deep in a State Park in NE Va. It was very deserted due to the location and the long 1 mile walk through deer fly infested woods. It was the most beautiful beach though and was worth the walk. Like I said the flys were horrible until you broke out into the sun light. We used to take dryer sheets and stuff them into our hats, shirt collars, and socks. It worked beleive it or not. Everyone looked silly, but were not molested by the flys.

Good luck!
Spoon

[TroutBum]

100% deet is overkill in many circumstances.  Deet is nasty stuff.  I have seen it eat a camera.  It seriously disolves many plastics.  

I prefer a less concentrated deet lotion.  I know Sayer makes one, or I use the Cutter wipes.  

The wipes are my favorite, because I can apply it without dripping, then use purell to take it off my hands before I touch a fly line.

I am outside in mosquito infested areas both working and playing pretty much year round (though don't have may bug problems in December in Idaho).  Most evenings I am on the South Fork of the Snake, and if Mayflies are hatching, so are the mosquitos.

my 3rd and 4th cent.

[AustinBoston]

Once found and properly removed keep an eye on the bite area for swelling or redness after a few days. Lyme's disease is carried by ticks, and is curable when caught early. My mother contracted the disease from a tick bite while working in the yard, she has a very wooded lot. Once she noted the red ring forming she saw her physician and was treated. She is fine now, but more cautious for sure.

I am not a doctor, but I sometimes play one on the internet.  :yikes:

This is good advice as far as it goes, but incomplete.  If you show up at a doctor or clinic with a tick bite site that has a rash, you will be treated for lyme unless they are sure it is something else.  But about 20-30% of those who contract lyme never get that rash.  The general advice is that the tick has to be attached for at least 24 hours before you will get lyme.  But in 2-3% of cases, the tick was attached for a much shorter time.

In all, the following is in order with a tick bite:
[list=1]

• Remove the tick and keep it.  Unless you can positively identify the specific species, keep it for identification later.  The easiest way to do this is to place it between two pieces of Scotch tape.  Ticks bear a variety of diseases besides lyme, and identifying the species can make diagnosis easier.
  
• Write on the calendar (and on the scotch tape) the date and location of the bite.
• Check the site of the bite every day.  Any kind of swelling, color change, or anything that looks like rings must be seen by a doctor that day.  Keep this up for six weeks after the bite.
  
• If you find a spreading target-like rash even without a known tick bite, see a doctor that day.  Once in a while, a tick gets away without being discovered.
  
• Any flu-like symptoms must be reported to a doctor that day.  Tell the doctor you were bit by a tick and on what date.
  
• The blood test for lyme disease is notorioulsy bad, with many false positives and false negatives; accurate and timely reporting of bites and symptoms is the most important thing in diagnosis.
• If you are seeing a doctor for suspected lyme disease, bring that tick with you.

In this recent thread, I describe how PJay contracted Lyme disease.  As of this post, she is about halfway through treatment.  She's in that 2-3% that contracted it in much less than the typical 24 hours; there is no way the tick was on her 6 hours before she found it.

Our #2DD is dating a man who contracted lyme disease when he was ten.  It went undiagnosed for a year, and misdiagnosed for several more years.  The net result is he hcan not stand or walk for long periods of time because of arthritis-like problems with his knees, hips and shoulders.  I believe he has other problems as well.  Unless a new treatment is discovered, he will probably stay this way for the rest of his life.

Others who go undiagnosed for long periods report sudden and sharp shooting pains in various parts of their body, and once in a while, some report recuring flu-like symptoms.  Again, these will continue for the rest of the victim's life.

All of these can be prevented with prompt diagnosis and treatment.

Don't put it off.  If you show symptoms of lyme disease, see a doctor that day.  It's worth breaking up a camping trip over.

I should also mention that there are other tick-borne diseases, such as rocky mountain spotted fever.  Most tick-borne diseases will be cured by the treatment for lyme.

Tick removal: When I was in boy scouts, there were a long list of ways to remove ticks, and everyone and everything said do not just pull the tick off.  Today, the advice is the opposite; don't use any of those; just gently pull on the tick, gradually pulling more and more until it comes off.  Check for the head, and if it's still attached to the victim (this happens less than once in a thousand ticks), it will need to be removed by a doctor.  Treating the area with an antiseptic is a good idea.

I don't know where PJay got it, but we have a "tick spoon" in the camper.  it works very well.  Just pops the bugger right off, head and all.

I hate ticks.

Austin (disclaimer: internet medical advice is worth every penny you pay for it)

[flyfisherman]

100% deet works great, but stinks. If everyone is wearing it no problem. You wont smell it after a while and will almost forget you have it on.
Brands like Cutter, Off, ect are good, just look for the deet content. Permethrin works well too but as said before added to the wash, and not applied directly to the skin.


Good luck!
Spoon

I've found that Sawyer's 20% time release DEET to be just as effective (for at least up to 6 hours) as the 100% DEET, plus much easier on the skin! When I'm fishing, usually apply one dose before I leave camp and that will handle the morning's outing. After lunch (and a nap), when heading back out for the late afternoon and early evening, will apply another dose and that carries me through even to the evening's camp fire. That 100% DEET is real harsh, even on equipment - it will flat out destroy a fly fishing line!

Last year I picked up a new product that was being marketed in this country by Cutter, called Picaridin. Much, much, easier on the skin and equipment then DEET. And worked just as good for the 'skeeters, jury still out for the ticks. I'm heading out Thursday for a week in the North Carolina mountains and should have a chance to try the new Picaridin on the tickers then!


Fly

[b2220128]

When I was a kid my mother used to dust us with sulfur powder.  Cover the ankles, the crotch, the back of the knees, and the waist where your underwear band rides as these are likely place for ticks to bite.  I haven