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tangoking
Lover of Boletes
Registered: 07/02/09
Posts: 952
Loc: New Jersey, USA
Last seen: 10 months, 14 days
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Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease
#11478920 - 11/18/09 02:24 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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A deer tick latched onto me the other day, and I made all the classic mistakes removing it--burned it with a lighter, squeezed the body with tweezers, broke the body off leaving the head, and eventually cut the mouthparts out with a razor, opening a wound and exposing me to bacteria from the tick head stuck in my skin.
It occurred to me that the greatest danger to us mushroom hunters is not poisonings, bear attacks, or even trespassing charges--it is Lyme disease. It is the fastest growing infectious disease in the USA(1), and some even think that it should be classified as a biological weapon.(2).
As we mushroom hunters do a lot of bushwhacking (among other whacking), we are at very high risk for picking up ticks; and by transition, high risk for Lyme disease.
I'd hate to see others make the same mistakes that I did, and thought that a sticky about ticks and Lyme disease might be a good idea. It would include standard info about precautions (wearing light clothes, tucking pants into socks, using bug spray), how to properly remove ticks, where they can be tested for the Lyme bacteria, how to save a tick that is removed, etc.
At the very least, it would alert newbs to the danger. If it prevents even one one person from getting Lyme, it is well worth it.
I've included a poll just to see what people think.
Love, ~tk
(1) http://tobefree.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/the-truth-about-lyme-disease-the-fastest-growing-infectious-disease-in-the-usa/
(2) http://www.rense.com/general63/lyme.htm
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Beege
gatherer
Registered: 08/02/08
Posts: 4,466
Loc: Germany
Last seen: 12 years, 5 months
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: tangoking]
#11479019 - 11/18/09 02:41 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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no it would just clutter up the forum. I've pulled countless ticks off of myself (especially durring the off season - summer) and never had a problem. It's just a hazard of the trade, if you're going to be in the woods looking for mushrooms - your're going to get a few ticks. Just pull them off carefully (use tweezers and pull straight up). Usually there will be an itchy spot and maybe a little swelling or weeping for a week or two and then gone. Just make sure it doesn't get too red.
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burtonRebel
Registered: 12/02/06
Posts: 1,222
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: Beege]
#11479250 - 11/18/09 03:21 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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Ticks rule!
-------------------- Wreck yourself before you check yourself
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Magenta
I care!!
Registered: 06/14/09
Posts: 20,323
Loc: The land of plenty
Last seen: 26 days, 2 hours
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: Beege]
#11479254 - 11/18/09 03:22 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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I don't really know how much of a hazzard it is over in other countrys, but i live in the bush in Australia Victoria, am wondering through the bush almost every day, even more during winter, and i have never had a tick on my body. They are around though because i remove them from lizards all the time.
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LowcountryHunter
Stranger
Registered: 09/03/09
Posts: 149
Last seen: 3 years, 1 month
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: Magenta]
#11480496 - 11/18/09 06:04 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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I bumped into what must have been a freshly hatched egg cluster this summer and came home with literally hundreds of baby ticks across my lower torso. Hopped in the shower and lathered up with mineral oil, doused with rubbing alcohol and itched for days. After my wife asked why the shower was so slippery I told her what happened in case she needed to tell a medical professional later; all worked out.... Live and learn! Venator Emptor (hunter beware)
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DannyGlick
Registered: 04/14/08
Posts: 3,889
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: LowcountryHunter]
#11480540 - 11/18/09 06:09 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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I just picked one out me belly.
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burtonRebel
Registered: 12/02/06
Posts: 1,222
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: LowcountryHunter]
#11481490 - 11/18/09 08:17 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
LowcountryHunter said: I bumped into what must have been a freshly hatched egg cluster this summer and came home with literally hundreds of baby ticks across my lower torso. Hopped in the shower and lathered up with mineral oil, doused with rubbing alcohol and itched for days. After my wife asked why the shower was so slippery I told her what happened in case she needed to tell a medical professional later; all worked out.... Live and learn! Venator Emptor (hunter beware)
That sounds like a nightmare
-------------------- Wreck yourself before you check yourself
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jet li
The One
Registered: 07/09/07
Posts: 4,279
Loc: penis double yew
Last seen: 4 months, 9 days
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: burtonRebel]
#11481647 - 11/18/09 08:36 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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i fucking hate ticks. That's why I love Washington so much. have never seen a tick, here. surely there must be ticks, here. But, as long as they stay off me, I'm good to go. I used to live in Missouri, and in the summer, there, you can barely go to the mailbox without getting seed ticks. god, i hate seed ticks with a passion.
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elprawn
Mushroom Guestimator
Registered: 10/17/09
Posts: 14,303
Loc: Ilford, England
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: jet li]
#11481658 - 11/18/09 08:37 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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I find they pass with time.
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hidenseek
loafter
Registered: 06/10/09
Posts: 4,586
Loc: Etoba-mi-coke
Last seen: 11 years, 3 months
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: elprawn]
#11481720 - 11/18/09 08:43 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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dhhhuuu everyone knows lyme disease dosnt exist in canada, its a north eastern us thing, but crazy people do exist in canada
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Grzyby
Janitor w/light cooking duties
Registered: 03/24/09
Posts: 900
Last seen: 13 years, 9 months
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: hidenseek]
#11481870 - 11/18/09 09:02 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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Lyme is no joke. My dental hygienist has had it chronically for 12+ years now. Causes swelling aching joints, paralysis of muscles.Her face muscles wouldn't move for months.My dog caught it too. He was fine one night going to bed. He woke up next day and wouldn't put any weight on his leg and was all swollen. I pull at least 10 off of me every trip. These deer ticks are also very small , like pepper flake size.
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tangoking
Lover of Boletes
Registered: 07/02/09
Posts: 952
Loc: New Jersey, USA
Last seen: 10 months, 14 days
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: DannyGlick]
#11482344 - 11/18/09 10:03 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
DannyGlick said: I just picked one out me belly.
That's where mine was. Did it sink in deep?
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quadracer
Porcini Hunter
Registered: 12/14/08
Posts: 596
Loc: Here, Now
Last seen: 2 months, 17 days
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: tangoking]
#11482396 - 11/18/09 10:10 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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I hate ticks but poison oak is a much bigger issue and way more likely than lymes, at least on the west coast.
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hidenseek
loafter
Registered: 06/10/09
Posts: 4,586
Loc: Etoba-mi-coke
Last seen: 11 years, 3 months
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: quadracer]
#11484519 - 11/19/09 10:22 AM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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DannyGlick
Registered: 04/14/08
Posts: 3,889
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: tangoking]
#11485015 - 11/19/09 11:55 AM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
tangoking said:
Quote:
DannyGlick said: I just picked one out me belly.
That's where mine was. Did it sink in deep?
No it was just starting to dig in.
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dicky21
Registered: 10/22/09
Posts: 1,609
Loc: UK
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: tangoking]
#11485208 - 11/19/09 12:31 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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Remove a tick from your skin as soon as you notice it. Use fine-tipped tweezers to firmly grasp the tick very close to your skin. With a steady motion, pull the tick’s body away from your skin. Then clean your skin with soap and warm water. Throw the dead tick away with your household trash.
Avoid crushing the tick’s body. Do not be alarmed if the tick’s mouthparts remain in the skin. Once the mouthparts are removed from the rest of the tick, it can no longer transmit the Lyme disease bacteria. If you accidentally crush the tick, clean your skin with soap and warm water or alcohol.
Don’t use petroleum jelly, a hot match, nail polish, or other products to remove a tick.
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Beege
gatherer
Registered: 08/02/08
Posts: 4,466
Loc: Germany
Last seen: 12 years, 5 months
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Re: Sticky Suggestion: Tick Bites and Lyme Disease [Re: dicky21]
#11485231 - 11/19/09 12:34 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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thanks dicky21 that's exactly right. seems like the petroleum jelly would only be good for allowing a tick to flourish while ingesting and transmitting to our bodies - bad idea. Just pull it out and keep it clean - minimalization is the key.
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