Is a Deer Tick Bite Definitely Round? (lyme disease)

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Is a Deer Tick Bite Definitely Round? I have a bite on my belly it is 100 per cent red, the size of an oval half dollar, about one inch by two. I'm trying comfrey softened in boiling water. I tried to make a tea (fresh cut leaves) but it did not color the water much. Should I be drying my leaves for this? At least the leaves take the heat out of the sore, and I think it is getting paler. I'm gonna soak in some epson's salt (or maybe some Magnesium Sulfate). Thanks

-- rick K (rick_122@hotmail.com), August 02, 2001

Answers

Forgot to mention that I have Calendula spray for it too.

-- rick K (rick_122@hotmail.com), August 02, 2001.

did you ever see a tick at the site?

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), August 02, 2001.

Don't think we saw a one at any of the three locations at which we stayed. I understand they are tiny though, and we tent-camped 5 out of 6 days.

-- rick K (rick_122@hotmail.com), August 02, 2001.

The last question is really relevant. Just about any insect or arthropod bite will react this way if you have a mild allergic reaction to it - ant, spider, wasp, tick, even mosquito or flea.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), August 02, 2001.

(Stan - I just realized you meant in the area of my belly - no, I never saw one attached) I suspect and hope it is just a bad bite. It would make me feel better to see someone who has seen it (or a picture) say it has to be perfectly round to be Lyme Disease.

-- rick K (rick_122@hotmail.com), August 02, 2001.


Ann checked the Merck manual of medical info. The incubation period is 3 to 30 days. I should feel terrible ( I don't), It should be 6 inches in diameter with a central clear spot(neither).

-- rick K (rick_122@hotmail.com), August 02, 2001.

rick, The mark of a deer tick bite is a bullseye. You would see a red spot, ring of light, followed by another ring of red. I put charcoal poultices on any bites I get, it seems to help. I also take grape seed extract tablets. They are suppose to kill any "bugs" that get into your system.

-- Dee in NJ (gdgtur@goes.com), August 02, 2001.

Thanks for telling us. That is great news.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), August 02, 2001.

Rick, I had a bull's eye bite, but it wasn't lymes. I went to google and did a search; there are lots of sites with color photos and detailed descriptions. The tick that bit me was too big to be lymes. Lymes ticks are said to be pinhead size.

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), August 03, 2001.


Friend of mine pulled off a tick last year, then went to a doctor couple days later for something unrelated. She mentioned the tick. Doc told her if she were to pull off any ticks, SAVE the tick and bring it in. Apparently medical people can put it under the microscope and tell if it's carrying Lyme's. Then if you have been bitten by one with Lyme's, treatment can be started right away, preventing a lot of the worst of the disease.

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), August 03, 2001.


Good point, Chelsea, I took my tick to the doc's, and he took one look at it, and said "NOT".

Actually, I was fairly sure it wasn't lyme, but I DID get a WEIRD reaction to this tick, which I've never had before, though I get once or twice a year. The only reason I even went to the doctor is because I "made" my wife go a few years ago, when she had a weird reaction to some type of bite, which Doc thought was black widow, as it turned out. Ouch.

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), August 03, 2001.


the tick has to be on you/biting for at least 24 hrs. for you to get the dis ease, last i heard that is. yeah--- science!

-- bj pepper (pepper.pepper@excite.com), August 03, 2001.

I thank you all for the answers. Google is TOO good. I shouldn't have asked Jeeves. No pictures where I was surfin. I'm certain that it wasn't a tick, as it didn't hold on to a belly the size of mine. If I pull any off I'll be sure to save them. As for grape seed extract, I may try vinegar, maybe even find a way to make some from grape seeds, or the extract itself. Maybe I can find a way to do it with my Vita-Mix and a press. I can't afford the extract.

Thanks again all.

-- rick K (rick_122@hotmail.com), August 03, 2001.


I believe deer ticks have 8 legs. Mini ticks (which are small but dont carry lyme disease) which are regualr ticks in a different life cycle- have 6 legs. I have been bit by 2 deer ticks this year- still waiting for symptoms.

-- kevin in NC (vantravlrs@aol.com), August 05, 2001.

I beleive that lyme disease comes from whats called a deer tick that is pear shaped. And as one other person mentioned it has to be attached to you for at least 24 hours. Also I've heared that the tick would had previously had to been attached to a coyote, skunk or some other animal that is a carrier. Living in cattle country and being a big outdoorsman I have been bitten quite frequently by just about all makes of ticks and have yet to get sick. "Thank you Jesus". One thing I do is always check myself over after being outdoors, and I guess that I have been bitten so many times that I have learned to know what one feels like when he is crawling or biting my skin. The ticks that I hate most is the "seed ticks" that come out in late summer and early fall. You don't get just one, but you will get what seems like a million all at once. You will either feel something crawling or start noticing your ankles are itching, and when you look you will see big brown patch of tiny seed ticks. Each individual tick is no bigger than the period at the end of this sentence. The only way to get them all off is to take a bleach water bath.

-- Russell Hays (rhays@sstelco.com), August 06, 2001.


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