A calm, empowered, and proactive approach to handle new tick bites

Proactive approach 

Let me start here with the approach I am (and Lyme Literate Providers (LLMDs) are) a fan of. If ANY tick is attached for ANY period of time, you will never hear me recommend that you "watch and wait." I recommend a proactive stance. In my opinion, not doing anything is just way more risky than doing some basic things, at the VERY LEAST, to assess the situation, treat the bite, treat yourself, and optimize your health. See, you don't know right away what you have been exposed to through that tick. Any contact with saliva from the tick can yield transfer of infections. Because testing takes time (tick and human), and lab work on humans being grossly unreliable, AND tick testing often does not test for every possible tick borne illness, I stand with Lyme Literate Providers everywhere and say - TREAT THE BITE.

(Read this post about my own journey for just one of many examples of what happens when a reactive approach is taken versus a proactive one when it comes to tick bites.)

Deal with the tick

Firstly, DO NOT use anything on the tick to try to get it to “come off” of you other than TWEEZERS. Oils, rubbing alcohol, petroleum products, and other “irritants” to a tick can actually cause it to regurgitate MORE saliva into you, and consequently can worsen your chance of infectious transmission. No bueno! 

Instead, all you need is a pair of good tweezers. You want to firmly grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible, trying to get the whole head, and firmly pull it out in the same direction it attached itself. Do not twist or jerk. Just pull firmly and steadily.

Ideally, you want to remove the whole head and all mouth parts. There are times that is harder to do than it looks. In that case having a pointy pair of tweezers can be helpful to grab anything that may remain behind. 

Then, it is a good idea to clean the area with non-toxic soap and water, and maybe even a little rubbing alcohol. We also add some of our favorite healing essential oils around the bite site - Frankincense and Ledum are favorites! Keep an eye on the bite site as well as how your body feel in order to document any signs of reaction (not just a bulls eye rash - that doesn't show up for everyone). Redness, swelling, irritation, etc at the bite site are all worth documenting. Recording on a calendar is a really helpful hack here so that you don't forget!

Lastly, we send our discovered ticks in for testing in order to both report them and also check them for some of the more common tick-borne diseases. Even if the tick is smashed or in pieces, it can still be tested! If you’d like to do this as well, check the ILADS.org website or Google for a list of tick test sites in your area.  Ticknology.org is one common and popular testing site. 

(Here's a blog post I did about tick bites as well, if you'd like to learn more.)

TREAT FURTHER ASAP

Immediately after a tick bite, reach out to a trusted provider or most preferably a Lyme Literate Provider for proper treatment and possibly testing. Ideal treatment is a minimum of 6-8wks (antibiotics or herbals), and many traditional providers are not trained in current and proper Lyme treatment. 

Additionally, any tick born illness testing (of the human bit) is best done 4-6wks after a bite to maximize accuracy of the results. HOWEVER, it's important to note that lab testing is grossly unreliable, and a LLMD will treat based on symptoms and tick test results over only human lab results. There are a few labs whose testing is more accurate, and most LLMDs will use those over other common lab testing (which leaves a greater room for error). 

To find a LLMD in your area, check out ilads.org, or ask in local groups for references. 

(Here's one of a few blog posts I've done with additional info in case you'd like to learn more.)



SUPPORT YOUR BODY

There are 6 Ways to Support Your Body After a Tick Bite that we use in my family until we get in to see our LLMD (I would not say that any of this is a substitute for treatment following a bite). I've talked about all of this in video form before (here's the video I did about it!) as well. Here's the list laid out for you:

  1. Buhner’s New Bite Protocol: this involves taking astragalus and applying andrographis tincture & green clay paste on the bite site. Read more about it HERE. We will do something similar to this recommendation with new bites, typically using bentonite clay and/or Dead Sea mud. Both of those I get off of Amazon usually.

  2. Ledum: this plant has lots of constituents that support health as it is high in antioxidants and other immune supportive properties. It is longtime known for being used for black eyes, bites, stings, punctures, scrapes, etc. You can use it in homeopathic form, essential oil form, as a tea, etc. We typically use the homeopathy and essential oil in our house.

  3. Essential oils: hugely helpful for cellular & immune support. For us, we like to use Thieves, ImmuPower, Raindrop technique, Ledum, and citrus oils. (FYI: herb and spice oils as well as citrus oils are often really effective for impacting the immune system.)

  4. Evaluation of diet: some basic ways to impact your health via nutrition are by reducing/eliminating sugar and processed foods, and increasing antioxidants and vitamins/minerals. Some ways our family does this are through ingesting more smoothies, whole foods, garlic, oregano, Ningxia Red, etc.

  5. Foot potatoes: an easy detox! And why not!? If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you need to see the video I did about it - click here! We can do tons to support our bodies and healing by consistently detoxing and keeping detox pathways open. This one detox method is SO easy and SO inexpensive!

  6. Supplement support: supplements can very effectively support immune system & overall health. Some ideas for immune support supplementation include: vit C, vit D, selenium, quercetin, NAC and/or glutathione, colloidal silver, Cistus tea, and many more! Hopefully this gives you a helpful starting point of some supplements you can try. 


 
If you would like to learn more, get more great content like this at your finger tips, and be part of a positive-vibing, holistic healing community, you'll want to pop into the Lyme-y & Crunchy group right HERE. We can't wait to see you there!





 




**Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional here to diagnose, treat, cure, or otherwise influence your medical journey outside of the guidance of a medical professional. I am simply sharing my own journey and what I have learned along the way. Please find a doctor you trust and discuss any medical concerns or treatments with them.