Ah! Found a tick on you? Here's how to remove it safely.

Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY
Updated ·4 min read
7
Deer ticks are smaller than the common brown dog tick and can be vectors for Lyme disease.

Like any outdoor insect, ticks can be a real pest. But they’re more than just a nuisance – ticks can carry dangerous diseases like Lyme disease, Heartland virus, tickborne relapsing fever, tick paralysis and others found across the U.S.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you can prevent ticks by checking your body and clothes for them after walking through grassy, wooded areas and by using insect repellent.

But if you’ve already been bit, here’s what to know:

How to remove a tick

Tick removal should be done carefully so as not to crush the bug, which may be full of infected blood. Here’s how to remove a tick that’s attached to your skin, according to the CDC guidelines:

  1. Use fine, pointed tweezers and grasp the tick close to the skin’s surface

  2. Pull upward steadily without twisting the tick, which can cause the mouth parts to break off

  3. Clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water

  4. Dispose of the tick by putting it in alcohol, a sealed bag, in tightly wrapped tape or by flushing it down the toilet

Remove the tick quickly to prevent disease transmission, so avoid remedies using nail polish, Vaseline or anything else that encourages the tick to detach on its own.

There’s also no need to save the tick for laboratory testing, which is not recommended, the CDC says. Instead, if you develop symptoms such as a rash or fever, contact your doctor. You can also use the CDC’s Tick Bite Bot, which assists in care after tick bites.

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How to remove a tick from a dog

Removing a tick from a dog is a similar process to human skin tick removal – grasp the tick with a pair of tweezers and pull straight up to prevent the tick from popping. Clean the bite area with antiseptic and tweezers with alcohol.

According to the Humane Society, you’ll want to monitor your pet's behavior over the next few days. Contact your vet if you notice any symptoms of tick-borne illness, including arthritis, swollen joints, swollen lymph nodes, fever, loss of appetite, neurological problems or general fatigue.

What does a tick look like?

Ticks can vary in size depending on which life stage they’re in – adult ticks are about the size of an apple seed, nymphs are the size of a poppy seed and larvae are about as small as a grain of sand. When they feed, they swell with blood and will be round in the middle.

Adult ticks are usually reddish brown or black and have eight legs, Check out these images of different tick species found in the U.S.

How to prevent ticks

Because ticks are most often found in grassy, wooded areas, you can take precautions by walking in the center of trails where there is less grass. When it comes to attire, choose light-colored clothing that makes creeping insects easy to spot. Tuck your shirt into your pants and pants into your socks.

Once inside, make sure to shower within two hours and tumble dry clothes on high heat for 10 minutes. You can also be diligent by checking your body, your children's bodies and your pets for ticks. On humans, ticks will normally hide in or around these body parts:

  • Hair

  • Eats

  • Belly button

  • Armpits

  • Waist

  • Between the legs

  • Back of the knees

On pets, ticks can often be found in these places:

  • Ears

  • Eyelids

  • Toes

  • Under the collar

  • Around the tail

  • Under the front legs

  • Between back legs

Symptoms of tickborne illness

There are more than 14 illnesses that ticks can pass to humans, though Lyme disease is the most common one. Here's what to pay attention to, according to the CDC:

  • Fever

  • Aches and pains

  • Rash

  • Weakness or paralysis, which could indicate tick paralysis.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How to remove a tick: Tips for getting rid of ticks, preventing bites