Ultra Cowboy
This came across Facebook and I was wondering if folks thought it was a credible method:
Tick Removal A nurse discovered a safe, easy way to remove ticks where they automatically withdraw themselves when you follow her simple instructions. Read this one as it could save you from some major problems. Spring is here and the ticks will soon be showing their heads. Here is a good way to get them off you, your children, or your pets. Give it a try. A School Nurse has written the info below--good enough to share--and it really works! "I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best way to remove a tick. This is great because it works in those places where it's sometimes difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of a head full of dark hair, etc." "Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20); the tick will come out on its own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away. This technique has worked every time I've used it (and that was frequently), and it's much less traumatic for the patient and easier for me.." Also, if you just pull a tick off, their heads sometimes break off and are left under the skin so this is much safer. Be aware also that a tick with a white speck on its back is a Deer Tick, these can cause Tick Fever so check yourself and your family good if you see any of these! "Unless someone is allergic to soap, I can't see that this would be damaging in any way. Please pass on. Everyone needs this helpful hint.
WYBMADIITY
Save
ahhh, never mind. Snopes disproved it...I should have checked there first.
I think I will carry one of these though
Sue
I'll give it a try...wonder if it works on dogs.
05/13/23 Traverse City Trail Festival 25K
08/19/23 Marquette 50 dns 🙄
Occasional Runner
Just rip them bitches out...says the guy with Lyme Disease.
Uh oh... now what?
Oscar, Harold, Eugene, and I were cutting brush down in the river bottom near Choctaw.
At lunch the conversation turned to tick removal. Eugene said he had a tick in his pubic
hair and didn't know how to get it out. It itched like crazy, but he didn't want to scratch
for fear of breaking the body off and leving the head to get infected. He offered to show us.
We declined. Oscar being the oldest of the four of us was looked to for advice. He told
us about a four-step process, saying you would need a razor, some lighter fluid, a match,
and an ice pick.
He told Eugene to
1) Shave off half your pubic hair.
2) Pour lighter fluid on the remaining half.
3) Set the lighter fluid on fire.
4) As the ticks run out from the fire stab them with the ice pick.
rgot
Le professeur de trail
Oscar, Harold, Eugene, and I were cutting brush down in the river bottom near Choctaw. At lunch the conversation turned to tick removal. Eugene said he had a tick in his pubic hair and didn't know how to get it out. It itched like crazy, but he didn't want to scratch for fear of breaking the body off and leving the head to get infected. He offered to show us. We declined. Oscar being the oldest of the four of us was looked to for advice. He told us about a four-step process, saying you would need a razor, some lighter fluid, a match, and an ice pick. He told Eugene to 1) Shave off half your pubic hair. 2) Pour lighter fluid on the remaining half. 3) Set the lighter fluid on fire. 4) As the ticks run out from the fire stab them with the ice pick.
Not sure whether to laugh or cry!?!
My favorite day of the week is RUNday
flashlight and sidewalk
Also effective for crabbies
**Ask me about streaking**
Faster Than Your Couch!
The problem with forcing the tick to remove itself by applying oil, soap, lighter fluid, or burning it, is that it causes the tick to release more liquids from its digestive system as a reaction to the "stress" (after all, you are slowly killing the tick by these methods). And the bacteria and viruses that are mostly feared because they cause illness to humans (e.g. borrelia causing Lyme Disease, or a specific virus causing encephalitis=inflammation of the brain) live just in these digestive fluids within the digestive tract of the tick.
So if you try to force the tick to release on its own by killing it, you are actually increasing your risk of contracting these diseases, whereas if you just pull out the tick quickly, the tick won't release more fluids, and you won't be exposed to more germs than what you already have been.
The medical information given out in central Europe, where many ticks carry borrelia and the viruses causing encephalitis, states that by suffocating or otherwise slowly killing the tick, you increase your risk of contracting those diseases to almost the likelihood of a tick actually carrying that disease (which can be very high in some areas), whereas if you quickly pull out the tick, your risk is much lower.
Your best bet still is to just pull out the tick, using whatever you have available, and work quickly. It does not cause any harm if the "head" or any parts of the mouth are left in the skin, they will just be shed and come out over time, similar to a splinter that cannot be removed.
Run for fun.
Endless trails
Ah yes, a classic sometimes referred to as the "Exorcist Technique"