r/CampingandHiking • u/CartoonistNo3755 • 22h ago

Tick on me

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Hello everyone. I found a tick on me I presume it latched onto me over 24 hours ago when I was hiking.

I felt it on my side and yanked it off before knowing what it is and pulled this guy off. It was still alive and moving when I pulled it off.

I don’t have rubbing alcohol and am freaaaaking out because the area he latched onto is a bit swollen. About the size of a small mosquito bite.

Any advice would be appreciated

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u/Mundraeuberin 21h ago

First off: it’s normal for tick bites to swell like a mosquito bite, it’s not a sign of Lyme or alpha gal. It’s your body detecting a foreign body and later a wound and your immune system reacting to it.

If you are in the US, see a doctor when you get back. You can’t test for Lyme this early, and even if the tick had Lyme, doesn’t mean you caught it. But maybe they could test the tick (it’s not done in my country but I heard it might be in the US?) and see if it can transmit any diseases, and then do follow ups to see if you caught anything.

The Lyme risk from a single tick bite is not that high, so please dont freak out. And it’s easily treatable with Doxycycline, especially if you catch it early.

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u/CartoonistNo3755 21h ago

Thank you so much. I’m reading other comments and very nervous its a lone star tick, and i’m reading theres no preventative or test I can do to see if I have it, ans that symptons take weeks to show up😭

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u/Mundraeuberin 20h ago

I don’t know a lot about alpha gal cause it doesn’t exist where I live (Europe). But we have a lot of ticks, Lyme, and I know some people who got it (plus I am in med school and studied it there too of course). Lyme disease is not such a big issue as long as it doesn’t go untreated. Don’t freak out about Lyme friend! If you get a bullseye, you take Doxy immediately and it’s fine. And if you are positive for IgM after some weeks, you take Doxy and it’s fine. The big danger from Lyme comes when people don’t know they could have it and don’t get tested or treated.