Permethrin for ticks

Permethrin is a type of insecticide that comes as a spray that you can apply to your clothing, home, or yard to help prevent tick bites. Permethrin also comes in the form of a cream that you apply to your skin to treat scabies.

You can buy permethrin spray at outdoor equipment stores and some department stores. But you will need a prescription from a doctor to buy permethrin cream.

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Is permethrin effective against ticks?

Permethrin spray can be quite effective against ticks when you use it correctly. Studies suggest that permethrin applied to clothing resulted in 34 times fewer tick bites than clothing that wasn’t sprayed with permethrin. When permethrin was sprayed on shoes and socks, it resulted in 74 times fewer tick bites.

Permethrin is an insecticide belonging to the pyrethroid family. An insecticide is a chemical that kills certain insects. Pyrethroids are synthetic chemicals that act like natural extracts from the chrysanthemum flower. Permethrin works on ticks of multiple species, including the most common human-biting ticks in the eastern United States.

Permethrin works by interfering with the nervous system of ticks, causing them to lose their ability to move after exposure. Ticks find permethrin very irritating and often quickly release from any fabric treated with the chemical. This prevents them from moving from clothing to your skin, where they may bite and could spread disease.

It’s important to note that the information above only applies to permethrin spray when applied to clothing. Permethrin also comes as a prescription cream that you can apply to your skin. Doctors use permethrin cream to treat scabies. You should not apply permethrin spray to your skin.

How quickly does permethrin kill ticks?

How quickly permethrin kills ticks depends on several factors, such as the length of exposure to permethrin and the species and age of the tick.

When ticks encounter permethrin-treated clothing, they will attempt to dislodge from the surface of the fabric. This is because the permethrin starts to irritate them as soon as they come into contact with it. Ticks may lose their ability to move within 1 to 5 minutes after being exposed to permethrin. If they are not able to dislodge from the fabric before they lose their ability to move, they will die.

Studies have shown that when a common variety of human-biting ticks were exposed to permethrin-treated clothing for 1 minute, 0% of the ticks showed any movement one hour later and only around 7% showed movement one day later.

How do you use permethrin for ticks?

To use permethrin to prevent tick bites, you can either spray your clothing and gear yourself, or purchase factory-treated clothing and gear.

When spraying your own clothing and gear, make sure to use permethrin products that are made to be sprayed on clothing or gear and contain 0.5% permethrin. You can spray shoes, socks, hats, clothing, camping gear, and backpacks.

Refer to the instructions on the bottle of permethrin and follow them closely. It is important to remember the following:

• Do not apply permethrin to clothes while you are wearing them.
• Make sure you apply the spray outdoors, in a well-ventilated area, away from any wind.
• After you spray your clothing or gear with permethrin, it should be hung outdoors and allowed to dry completely before you wear it again.
• Make sure to wash the clothing treated with permethrin separately from other clothing items.

How safe is permethrin for humans?

Permethrin is applied to clothing and not to your skin, so doctors consider it safe for humans. You can also purchase clothing pretreated with permethrin to avoid spraying it yourself.

Permethrin is also not well absorbed into your skin, so it is unlikely that a high amount of permethrin from treated clothing would be able to make its way into the human body.

A study on county park employees who wore permethrin-treated clothing while working in areas with high tick populations supports this. After working in permethrin-treated clothing for 3 months, the amount of permethrin absorbed by the 13 employees in the study was well below the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) level of concern.

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Summary

Permethrin spray is an effective way to help prevent tick bites and help prevent the spread of tick-borne diseases.

Permethrin interferes with the ticks’ nervous system and causes them to lose the ability to move after exposure and they try to dislodge from any fabrics treated with permethrin. If they are unable to dislodge, they will likely die.

Permethrin is applied to clothing and not to your skin and is not well absorbed by the skin. This is why doctors generally consider it to be a safe way to prevent tick bites. You can spray clothing, shoes, and camping gear with permethrin or buy factory-treated products.