|
Ticks How to get them out So. You've been out in the bush. You get home and start to take off your dirty clothes. There's a black speck on your skin. What is it? It could be a tick. How do you get a tick off? The worst thing that you can do is rub it off. If you break the body off and the head stays in your skin, it will get infected and could make you very sick. Some people have heard stories about touching the tick's body with a burning cigarette or a very hot needle. The idea is that the tick will back out the victim's skin. WRONG! The tick might back out but it will usually regurgitate anything it has eaten under the skin. This can cause sickness and disease. I heard a story that ticks screw under the skin in a clockwise direction. The story said that you grab the tick and unscrew it by turning it in an anti-clockwise direction. WRONG! If the tick has burrowed into the skin properly, this won't work. If the tick is still on top of the skin, it might work. A tick breathes through spiracles in its body. A popular idea is to put alcohol or something oily on the tick's body. The idea is that the tick can't breathe, it will back out of the victim. This can work, especially if the tick is not properly attached under the skin. Another way is to use a pair of tweezers. Try to grab the head of the tick - never the body! Gently pull the head directly away from the skin. Keep pulling steadily and gently. When the tick is off, treat the bite with anti-septic. Remember to look for other ticks on your body. |
|
To use this page effectively, children will need a worksheet from books published by |