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Tick Bite

Care at Home

Reassurance: Most tick bites are harmless. The spread of disease by ticks is rare.
Wood Tick Removal:
- Use a pair of tweezers and grasp the wood tick close to the skin (on its head). Pull the wood tick straight upward without twisting or crushing it. Maintain a steady pressure until it releases its grip.
- If tweezers aren't available, use fingers, a loop of thread around the jaws, or a needle between the jaws for traction.
- NOTE: Covering the tick with petroleum jelly, nail polish or rubbing alcohol doesn't work. Neither does touching the tick with a hot or cold object.
Tiny Deer Tick Removal:
- Needs to be scraped off with a knife blade or credit card edge.
- Place tick in a sealed container (e.g., glass jar, zip lock plastic bag), in case your doctor wants to see it.
Tick's Head Removal:
- If the wood tick's head breaks off in the skin, it must be removed. Clean the skin. Then use a sterile needle to uncover the head and lift it out or scrape it off.
- If a very small piece of the head remains, the skin will eventually slough it off.
Antibiotic Ointment: Wash the wound and your hands with soap and water after removal to prevent catching any tick disease. Apply an over the counter antibiotic ointment (e.g., bacitracin) to the bite once.
Expected Course: Tick bites normally don't itch or hurt. That's why they often go unnoticed.
Prevention: When hiking in tick-infested areas, wear long clothing and tuck the ends of pants into socks. Apply an insect repellent to shoes and socks. Permethrin products applied to clothing are more effective than DEET products against ticks. See INSECT BITES for more details.
IF your child becomes worse: Review Should I Call? recommendations.