Safe Tick Removal: A Step-by-Step Guide to Prevent Infection

Ticks are extremely common in certain areas, such as forests and tall grass. If you live near a tick-infested area, you'll likely end up with a tick burrowed into your skin at some point in your life. Even if you don't live near a tick-infested area, you still may need to remove a tick from your body. Ticks burrow into your skin and become engorged with your blood. You need to exercise caution when removing a tick from your skin, otherwise you could cause an infection.

Things You'll Need

• Tweezers

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Instructions

• 1

  Gently pinch the tick with tweezers as close to the tick's mouth as possible. The tick's mouth is the part buried into your skin. Do not grab the bloated sac; you could push infected fluid into your body.

• 2

  Pull the tick out of your skin by gently lifting up in a vertical motion. Do not yank the tick out of your skin or twist the tick as if you were trying to remove a screw.

• 3

  Place the tick in a jar or sealable bag. Place the bag in the freezer. Call your doctor if you exhibit any signs of Lyme disease, such as a bulls-eye red mark around the mark of the bite, confusion, arthritis-like pain in your joints, flu-like symptoms, and weakened muscle movement. Take the tick to the doctor's office for identification and to find out if the tick had Lyme disease.