Thursday 30/04/15
In Australia, ticks and leeches are a fact of life outside of the urban environment. If you regularly go hiking or camping, you've probably had to deal with these pests on numerous occasions. If not, you're either new to the outdoors or you've been very lucky. In previous blog posts, I've told you how to dress to reduce the risk of being bitten by ticks; but if you find a tick or leach on your body, would you know what to do?
Ticks
Ticks are active from early spring, through to late autumn (but that doesn't mean you're safe during winter). Ticks aren't fussy, but they prefer to feed from: the back of the head and neck, groin, armpits and back of the knees. After returning home, it is good practice to give your body a quick check for ticks, regardless of the time of year.
If you find a tick, the most important thing is to remove it as quickly as possible. Use fine tipped tweezers and grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible. Apply steady pressure and gently pull the tick out. Do not separate the body from the head, because the head will burrow further in. Do not squeeze the body, because you will force more toxins (and blood borne parasites from its stomach) into the bite area.
If you don't have tweezers, you can remove the tick using the knot method. Make a small loop in a thread (or piece of dental floss). Put the loop on your skin, with the tick in the middle of the loop, then slowly pull the knot closed. As the loop tightens, it should separate the tick's head from your skin.
Do not use kerosene or a hot match to remove the tick because this might cause the tick to regurgitate the contents of its stomach into the wound. Once you have removed the tick, clean the wound and apply antiseptic cream.
Symptoms of tick bites include: headache, fever, joint and muscle pain and a rash.
Leeches
Leeches inhabit wet and moist areas such as swamps and rainforests. Leech's saliva contains a mild anaesthetic and an anticoagulant; allowing the leech to bite their host and feed without the victim being aware of the leech's presence. Once a leech is full, it will fall off. Unlike ticks, leeches do not burrow into the skin. The simplest way to remove a leech is to sprinkle it with salt. Alternately, you can burn them off with a cigarette or lighter. Once you remove the leech, clean the wound and apply antiseptic cream.
As a precaution, you should always apply insect repellent before entering areas where you are likely to encounter ticks or leeches.