How to remove a tick

If you walk in woodland, countryside with tall grasses, or farmland, especially if there are mammals around you or you walking companions (human and canine) may find a tick hitching a ride. Here’s the simple and correct way to remove a tick, no burning matches, no nail varnish, no vaseline.

Just grip the tick as close as possible to the skin with tweezers and pull it smoothly upward. Do not twist it nor wiggle it. If its mouthparts break off use the tweezers to get those out. Disinfect the area and watch out for a persistent irritation, a rash, fever, or flu-like symptoms in the following days and weeks if you were the victim. Similarly, if you ongoing irritation around the tick bite in you or your dog or the dog becomes poorly or lethargic, seek medical/veterinarian advice as soon as.

It might be advisable to drop the plucked tick into a jar containing isopropyl alcohol and sealing it in case your doctor or the vet wants to test it subsequently should illness occur in you or your pet.

Incidentally, ticks can hope from host to host, so check other pets and people if one person is likely to have been bitten by one of these arachnoid hitchhikers.

The original advice can be found here.