I have just found a tick on me, tried removal with a pair of tweezers but was unsuccessful in removing the barbs.
I have spoken to the GP surgery and they do not deal with tick removal.
I will ring my Haematology ward in the morning for advice and possibly an inspection.
Any other advice from members?
Wherever I remove a tick on human or pet I dowse it with alchohol then remove it with tweezers.
I didn't realise it was a tick and just scratched it off!
I see, can u go visit your gp? Make sure it doesn't get infected.
Lydia,
Sounds like a waste of Jack Daniels to me. 😂
Jeff
Please don't waste the JD!!
Lol Jeff, I meant rubbing alcohol 🤣. I wouldn't waste that Jack🙂🙃.
You have to be careful, once you cause disruption to a tick it can empty the contents of its gut into your wound, spreads infection, these things are dangerous, if I find one on my dog I have a special tick removal tool and have to wear gloves, once its off I drop it into bleach to kill it. I would respectfully suggest members research this so that they know the right way to remove a tick and the possible consequence of tick 'bites'
I simply shared what I do. And I never had a problem with this method. The reason why I do this is because it releases the ticks head as well not leaving anything behind. I do appreciate your comment and will look into this further🙂.
I do this to decrease the chance of bacterial infection if the head is left behind.
Yup! I am an expert!(!) what do you want to know?
Anticlockwise rotation.
amazon.co.uk/OTom-02-3785-O...
this tool is what you need... I have several. Been tick bitten and treated for Lyme Disease.
...essential you get the legs out of the skin.
Watch for rash. Erythema Migrans.
Any rash - report immediately to GP! They should give you this advice!
Jig
Thanks. Too late for the removal tool. What antibiotic did you receive? Doxycycline?
Yes indeed 3 weeks.As part of my CLL diagnosis work up everything got tested. My Lyme titre was rising. Treated on that basis.
me too I get antibiotics if I pick up a tick...thats France or UK
Oh, man, if titer rising, take it for longer than 3 weeks! (I had one of the first central Virginia cases of lyme back in 1989, and got 3 weeks --2 wks recommended conservatively but no one knew really cause so new and my great doc okayed 3wks as other docs were recommending-- of IV rocephin (sp)? Did a job, but not permanently -- have had bouts since, and then do the doxycyline. Just my personal opinion.
Am I OK to wait till tomorrow to get this sorted? Or do I need to go to minor injuries today?
It's prudent to remove ASAP eg within 24hrs, not an emergency. I've had 6 in total that I have removed.
Seek advice in the morning. All GPs should know what to do.
Key thing is the rash, this can emerge later. Always report the rash. Erythema Migrans. Google... lots on it.
patient.info/infections/lym...
It's a complicated disease. Always speak to a Doctor!
Jig
I would be dousing it in Hydrogen Peroxide and then treating it like a splinter- using a sterilized needle and fine tweezers to tease out everything that is black color. Then more peroxide and a triple antibiortic salve with a bandaid (UK= adhesive bandage ??) -
Trying to kill any bacteria like Lyme Disease before it gets established in your blood stream.
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Len
Thanks. Unfortunately no HP at home, but doing salt washes as advised by surgery.
Have you been successful with this method? I've tried numerous methods that have failed. The tick twister works every time. I always check the legs come out intact. I get to practice on my cat. You are right of course... keep the wound site clean and disinfected.
Jig
I try to get the tick out whole- my father and grandfather would use the flame from a lighter to disturb the tick to back out, but my kids would not sit still for that, so I had to use a tweezers and lots of patience.
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Only when the tick came apart woud I get at it like a splinter.
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Until I was 45, I had outstanding close vision, and a steady hand, so like the barbers of olden days, I got the job, because I had the tools and the hand eye coordination.
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But now I use a set of head mounted magnifiers like a jewler's and the hand is not as steady.
My kids are in their 40's, live 3 hours and 16 hours away, and I don't know what they do.
Len
Until I was introduced to the tick twister, by a vet incidentally, like you I tried various methods with some difficulty. The tick twister takes 5 sec, couple of turns, and for me has never failed.
Bandaids = Plasters in the UK.
Thanks, my USA to UK translator said that plaster was salve. But I guess it varies by region, like the USA. ( Soda, pop, cola, soft drink)
No, plaster is what you put on a brick wall to smooth it out before painting. I wouldn’t trust your translator. 😄 But it’s appreciated that you tried. x
Rubbing Alcohol can also sterilize, it is just much more painful in an open wound. We always keep a bottle of H2O2 handy for any injuries (and cleaning red wine and tomato sauce off clothing).
Hello Robert. First, don’t freak out. The tick can only transmit Lyme in it’s tiny early nymph phase, and even then must be attached for at least 48 or more hours. I’ve had Lyme twice. First time my rash did not form a telltale target pattern, and I did not register on blood tests. Got very ill for months before diagnosis. Doxycycline for 21 days brought relief. The ticks in nymph stage are super tiny, very hard to see, and you won’t feel them. The second time I did develop a target rash, and immediate treatment with rounds of doxycycline once again cured it. Not every tick bite is dangerous. See your doctor and you’ll be fine.
Going to go to the Urgent Treatment Centre at Lymington Hospital this morning.
Having been a lyme victim -- no bullseye, not on that long -- I'm dubious of these 36 hr (muchless 48 hr) reassurances. Bottomline, if you start feeling weird, feverish in weeks after -- take it seriously, regardless of how long you know it's been on. But this has nothing to do really with your current situation which, I agree with Jenny, doesn't matter in the overall and I wouldn't be that concerned about it, from the standpoint of it mouth parts are still there.
This actually does need urgent attention and at the very least a dose of antibiotics especially with a compromised immune system. When ticks are removed it has to be in it's entirety otherwise they can cause disease and do, you need to make sure that you are protected now. GP's very often dont know what to do but if you ring a vet they will help you. Good luck x
Going to go to the Urgent Treatment Centre at Lymington Hospital this morning.
Thats good, I didn't want to say too much but these damned things are very dangerous, as a dog owner I am aware of the disease they spread, the longer they are on the 'victim' the more chance and if you don't remove it correctly then the risk is greater. Good luck at the hospital and that the medic knows about the disease spread by ticks as this is most important, it is called Lyme Disease 'a bacterial infection that can be spread to humans by infected ticks, easier to treat if diagnosed early'
Just back from the minor injuries unit. Well here's a surprise. They would not dig out the barbs, can cause more infections. Told to leave it alone
Their assessment was based on the information from the Lyme Organisation stating that they do not recommend the removal of retained parts.
Well at least you have got some expert advice, did they prescribe a course of antibiotics and did you tell them your immune system was compromised? Sorry in mother mode lol
Yes I laboured the point about being compromised and on Ibrutinib, but the recommendation was the same. And No AB.
Then keep a watch on anything out of the ordinary developing, fever, aches and pains etc., I personally think it would have been better to given you antibiotics as a precaution, might be worth trying your GP again and actually asking for a course to be on the safe side.
I've heard that ticks are particularly numerous this year in many countries. Gotta be tick aware...
Worst problem is when they are small and on body areas where we don't notice them. I found one on me last week while on holiday in Scotland, but luckily it hadn't got dug in and came off easily.
Best to avoid getting them on our skin in the first place. Hubby and I always tuck the bottom of our trousers into long walking socks to stop them creeping up onto us that way. We never wear shorts or short sleeved tops in possible tick country (where there are deer or sheep roaming.).
Vulnerable areas are our heads and necks, as ticks can get onto us from vegetation where they wait for passing animals they can drop onto.. Sunhats help. I wear a pale one so any ticks are easily visible.
The day the tick got onto me last week, we had been pushing our way through high bracken and shrubbery. According to the map we were on a marked path (on hillside by Loch Lomond), but it had become very overgrown, maybe through lack of use due to Covid restrictions! If a path is wide and clear of tall vegetation, it's safer (though not always so exciting).
I realise that tick avoidance strategies are too late for you this time, Robert.
Last time I got one that was deeply dug in, like you I scratched off its body by mistake, then spent ages with a sterilised needle, digging the tick jaws out of my arm. A painful, bloody business... I hope you soon find a better way to remove your tick remnants..
Paula.
P.S. Just seen your latest post, Robert, about you going to Urgent treatment center at hospital this morning. Good for you! Best of luck!
Hi Paula.
Thank you!
A most important point you make well - avoidance the most powerful way to NOT get Lyme Disease.
And worth NOT getting - bit like Covid.
In fact since my CLL I have stopped mountain biking thru thick and thin. Sticking to more open trails for the whole tick deterrent thing.
Jig
PS Everyone get the a tick twister, Couple of quid, last a life time.
Available on a well know online store!
😉
Tick twister way to go. They work on dogs too!
the New Forest in uk, presuming that the Lymington you are talking about, is a hot spot for ticks
Yes we are in the New Forest. However, was at home cutting a hedge. It got through all my clothing on to my back.
Get the doctors to prescribe a weeks course of Flucloxacillin which is a drug made for any skin infections. This should totally solve any skin infections from the tick bite.
Dick
Lymes disease isnt a skin rash ..the skin rash is only one sign that there might be Lymes
My reply was NOT anything to do with Lymes Disease, but just to alert others that this drug is useful for any infection caused by the remnants of the tick being under the skin. I have personal experience with exactly that condition.
How deep in are those jaws? Can you just cut the whole thing out with a piece of meat too? One little deep wound. That's it.
Noooo, pls dont do that! Hammer and nut comes to mind!
The resulting wound would be in excess of whats needed and then itself a source of infection taking days to heal.
Tick Twister thingy - takes 5s and the wound thats left tiny.
Job done.
Jig
Back in the 80's I burnt a wart out (to ashes) with matches 
Ended up with burn wounds which healed nicely. No more wart! That was definitely nutty and hammery. Young and dumb.
I had a tick bite which I must have brushed off without noticing on my belly. It just itched for a while, and then it seemed to get a red ring round it. I still didn’t take much notice as I get bitten by something g every time I put my head out of doors!I had a check for something else, and asked a nurse in the surgery who brought in the doctor, who prescribed some antibiotics.
I wasn’t ill, and it cleared up quick quickly, leaving a coloured ring.
(Moral: Do see someone who knows about these things ASAP!)
Cx
2 hours ago Robert posted that he's "going to go to the Urgent Treatment Centre at Lymington Hospital this morning."
It will be very interesting to hear how they deal with his tick situation.
Paula
Just back from the minor injuries unit. Well here's a surprise. They would not dig out the barbs, can cause more infections. Told to leave it alone.
Just back from the minor injuries unit. Well here's a surprise.! They would not dig out the barbs, can cause more infections. Told to leave it alone
Their assessment was based on the information from the Lyme Organisation stating that they do not recommend the removal of retained parts.
Sorry for all you’ve been through with this. If you still have the tick, you may want to send it in for testing to see if it was positive for the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, as well as many other bacteria it could have been carrying. Best of luck.
I disposed of the little critter.
I had a tick on me last year. It was painful. Removed with tweezers. Notic
Two important things to note-
1. There are some circumstances in which a tick can transmit the bacteria that causes Lyme much more quickly than the 24 or 48 hr mark that is often cited. One of them being if the tick fell off a infected animal it was already feeding on and then bit you.
2. Only a minority of people who contract Lyme disease get the bullseye rash. Many do not get the rash but still get Lyme. Unfortunately, many doctors still think you will get the rash if you have contracted Lyme, so they ask you to wait to see if you get a rash.
I would ask a doctor for doxycycline. The length of those does varies a lot by doctor, and many doctors don’t have in-depth information on Lyme disease. If you have reason to believe it was a tick carrying the bacteria that causes Lyme, you want 21-30 days of doxycycline, if you can stand it, and if it doesn’t interfere with CLL or treatment of CLL. The side effects of doxycycline are sometimes harsh, but it is worth it to treat Lyme. It is the most effective antibiotic for Lyme. The sooner you take the antibiotic, the more effective it is.
I have no idea how this antibiotic treatment might interfere/interact with CLL or CLL treatment, so this is more general Lyme disease info. We live in an area of the US where 90%+ of the ticks carry Lyme disease bacteria. We met with many Lyme specialists last year to untangle all this info. We learned most GPs have dated and/or incomplete info and you have to research and advocate for yourself quite a bit. Please let me know if any additional info on my experience might be helpful and best of luck!
I have started AB (doxycycline) as a precaution, but only have a weeks emergency supply, so need that GP appointment. I was on these AB throughout the pandemic due to my IVIG being cancelled.
A longer dose would be better but I am pleased that you have started a course, a few days supply sadly is all the docs will prescribe, but go back for more, take some written information with you if you can proving that the course should be longer, maybe look it up on a Lyme disease platform which states how long a course should be. I always believe better to be safe than sorry. I have a Chihuahua dog and won't let her go into bushes and longer grass areas because of these damned things so always on guard with my tick tool lol
I rather think this is a plain GP issue, not an onc issue. Perhaps you have an all-purpose onc, but mine is pretty specialized, so wouldn't bother onc about such a thing. As a future tip, a match on the body can sometimes help also. If the parts are in there, they will rot away, I believe, as I have had that a number of my times in my life with no complications (from that aspect -- there's always lyme, etc to be watchful about, but you'd do that whether you got it all or not).
Only trouble is the GP said nothing we can do for you, go to minors.
I think GP right nothing to do/worry about. It will dissolve eventually. Whether you got all or part off -- still just be watchful for lyme issues but no need to run for antibiotics because odds are tick didn'thave lyme, and with all this doxycyline usage, we're endangering its effectiveness. My personal opinion but with lots of tick and lyme experience.
I see advice to avoid tall and dense vegetation but have been picking up 2 species of ticks in my short mown lawn since March. Tiny black legged deer ticks and larger American dog tick. I have found them crawling up my DEET sprayed clothing. I found one crawling up on my front door jamb to my head level. I see them easily on my white dog as they crawl on top of her fur towards the head so I know they are numerous. I pick off of her and my clothes, put in ziplock baggie into microwave to kill before disposing. She takes a medication that kills them so not worried for her but what may be carried inside to me. I spray her fenced in yard which helps a lot . Mice and chipmunks transport ticks more than deer.I had 3 ticks bite me in my lifetime and 2 were on my back scalp beneath my hair. I can see how people miss them. Wear light colored clothing and look for them often, they can move faster than you imagine. Be proactive.
I've had a fair bit of experience with tick's when I live in the woods in BC Canada and they got into both my dogs regularly, and me occasionally. To remove a tick take tweezers and unscrew the tick anti-clockwise. It will come out easily and safely. If you don't do this the head will stay in and likely get infected.
Just back from Minors. Had the area frozen, a small cut and then the barbs removed. Tomorrow a GP appointment to try and get 3 weeks of AB.
Did I misunderstand your earlier post? I thought you said they wouldn't dig out the barbs, and that it would be OK to leave it?
Glad to hear it's out now though, and hopefully tomorrow you can get a full course of antibiotics from GP.
Paula
You are correct. One Minors unit said No the other said Yes. I had to play them off to get the result I wanted.
Not ideal, Robert, but at least they took it out for you in the end. Well done for persisting. Nice that they froze the area for you first.
I've been Googling Lyme disease in the UK and it seems it's increased a lot in the last years, same as tick numbers are increasing. They say about 10 % of ticks now carry the disease, but I'm not sure if that's one particularly species of tick, or all ticks.
I'm particularly interested in the risks of ticks, because most years I seem to get at least one bite. The young daughter of a friend of mine caught Lyme disease and she has suffered longterm health problems ever since. She didn't realise she'd had a tick bite, but later blood tests showed it up.
Paula
Get an antibiotic to reduce risk of Lyme's Disease.
Several years ago my doctor gave me a prescription of IC Doxycycline. I enjoy the outdoors and a few times have removed ticks,but was unsure if they were deer ticks so this single dose med was to be taken within the first 24hrs prophylactically.
I'm glad to see that you persisted and the doctor relented to begin treatment with doxy, but I'd insist on a 30 day treatment, especially as we tend to be very immunocompromised.
I've had Lyme twice, and was the first in my area in 2000. I had a bullseye on my shin from my veggie garden where deer frolic. Doctors said it was a spider bite so no treatment was given, though I had telltale fever, neck pain and a new chronic cough.
One year later, I had a second bite on my tailbone after a trip to a park in southern Illinois where I sat on rocks. Like you, I didn't know it was there and 3 days later, scraped it off with my fingernail. The soap must have helped to release the barbs.
I took the tiny tick to urgent care, and insisted on precautionary treatment and a test on Western Blot for borellia lyme disease. They were in disbelief, having never seen a lyme case here before. She didn't want to start treatment until she knew I was positive. I told them that you must wait 14 days for a test to come up positive per literature. I said I would not leave the office until I had a 30 day Rx of doxycycline in hand as a precaution.
She reluctantly obliged.
At day 3, the early test came up negative as literature predicted, but I still insisted I had lyme due to the expanding 4" bullseye and localized numbness. After my test was repeated at 14 days, it was flaming positive for several bands, even though I'd already taken doxy for 10 days before retesting. She had to apologize, and said I was the first ever in my country in Illinois.
There are other parasites that can be introduced in tick bites. I hope you are able to convince your doctors to continue treatment with doxy.
Managed to convince GP to prescribe 3 weeks of AB 👍
How long from a tick bite will it take to show in the blood such that a blood test can be performed?
There's a new Kid in Town
Sudden Lymph Node Enlargement
Stopping and Restarting Calquence
CLL and armpit lymph nodes 
CLL + Bladder cancer + prostate cancer 
