How can you prevent tick bites and prevent Lyme disease? 5 steps: Defend, Avoid, Repel, Check, Verify.
Years ago, I remember my 3-year-old son saying to me, “What’s that, Daddy.” He was pointing to a small black spot on his arm. I dismissed the spot as just a scab, but he replied, “with legs?” The nymph tick that was on his arm was so small that my eyes couldn’t even see the legs. Thankfully, my son’s eyes were a lot sharper than mine.
A Tick Bite Can Lead to Lyme Disease
Tick are known carriers of Lyme disease. And tick season is here.
Ticks can be active anytime the temperatures are above freezing. But there’s a documented spike in tick activity in March through May. That means it pays to be extra vigilant about ticks and tick bites during this time.
I suffered from Lyme disease. You don’t ever want to suffer from Lyme disease. Being casual about a tick bite can cause you to suffer from a debilitating chronic illness and lose years of healthy living. I don’t want anyone to go through what I had to go through to reclaim my health.
If you’re bitten, take the possibility of infection seriously. Lyme disease cases in the U.S. nearly tripled from 2000 to 2017.
Take Proactive Measures to Prevent Lyme Disease
If you’re bitten by an infected tick, the symptoms can be debilitating, even life disrupting. While other vectors of Lyme disease may exist, most human cases are spread by the black-legged tick or “deer” tick.
The early stages of Lyme disease often include a rash called erythema migrans, which looks like a ring with a dot in the center – a bullseye rash. However, not all cases of infection get this early warning sign. Ticks also can carry nine or more “co-infections.”
The best way to avoid getting Lyme disease is to take proactive measures to protect against ticks and Lyme disease in the first place.
Protect Against Ticks to Prevent Lyme Disease
How can you reduce your risk and protect against ticks and Lyme disease? Follow these 5 steps:
- DEFEND yourself and your property. The main reservoir for the bacteria that causes Lyme disease is the white-footed mouse. Encourage natural predators to keep the mouse population low. Closer to the house, treat the lawn with natural tick repellents.
- AVOID tick-friendly places, such as tall grasses, leaf piles, and areas around birdfeeders (the spilled seed attracts mice).
- REPEL ticks by pre-treating your clothes with tick repellent if you’ll be walking or playing outside. Drinking Cistus tea regularly can make you less appealing to ticks.
- CHECK your clothes anytime you’ve been outside. Check your clothes while you’re out, but also be sure to do it when you return indoors. To be extra cautious, remove all your clothing and put them in the dryer on a high heat cycle for 10 minutes. Note: washing alone will not kill ticks.
- VERIFY that there are no ticks on your body. Ticks can attach anywhere, but they’re often happiest in hard-to-see areas like the groin, scalp, and armpits. Check between your toes, behind your knees, behind your ears, and in any skin folds that might cover them. The nymph tick is tiny – as small as 2mm – so look carefully.
Get Serious About Protecting Yourself
Take Lyme disease serious. Recognize the myths, and arm yourself with the facts. If you’re having any post-bite symptoms, seek medical attention, proactively advocate for your health, and support your immune defenses with Cistus incanus tea and Phyllanthus niruri tea, two of the healthiest teas in the world.
And remember: not getting sick in the first place is much better than fighting to get well …