Your guide to treatment for tick bites

Ticks are tiny arachnids (eight-legged creatures) that feed on blood, often from animals but sometimes from humans. They do this by biting and latching onto your body to drink your blood. This doesn’t usually hurt, and the ticks tend to fall off when they’re full.

However, sometimes ticks carry diseases that they can transmit to you when they bite you. This is why it’s important to remove the ticks as soon as possible if you notice one attached to you. First aid is usually enough to manage the immediate effects of a tick bite, but it’s important to look for signs that you may need more treatment.

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Online care for tick bites

The sooner you seek treatment for tick bites, the less likely you are to experience serious complications. If you’re concerned about removing a tick after a bite, you can speak with a doctor for advice or guidance.

Online care services, including Optum Perks Online Care, may make getting treatment easier. With these services, you can submit an online form answering a few questions about your symptoms, and a US-licensed healthcare professional will respond soon after to prescribe a treatment plan.

First aid for tick bites

If you spend a lot of time outdoors, you’re likely familiar with bug bites and stings. These are incredibly common, and tick bites are no exception. Ticks tend to live on leaves and grass, waiting for a host to pass by that they can bite and cling to.

A tick might stay attached to you for a few days or even up to 2 weeks. While it doesn’t usually hurt when a tick bites you, it can itch. It’s only when the itch starts that many people even notice a tick bite.

Because ticks contain pathogens (bacteria, parasites, and viruses) that can cause diseases, such as Lyme disease, it’s important to remove the tick as soon as you notice the bite. Removing a tick within 24 hours greatly reduces your risk of developing Lyme disease.

The following steps can help you remove a tick:

1. Use tweezers to remove the tick.
2. Pull upward in a steady, even manner.
3. If parts of the tick remain in your body, contact a doctor, such as a dermatologist, for help with removal.
4. Clean the area with soap and water.
5. Dispose of the tick, or save it in a sealed jar. Saving the tick can be useful if you develop symptoms of a disease after the bite, so that doctors can test it.

Some over-the-counter (OTC) medications can help manage symptoms of tick bites. These include:

• Oral antihistamines: These can relieve itching and hives associated with some tick bites. These include loratadine (Claritin), fexofenadine (Allegra), cetirizine (Zyrtec), and diphenhydramine (Benadryl).
• Pain relievers: Tick bites aren’t usually painful, but if you notice any pain or swelling around the bite, you can try some OTC pain medication to help reduce your symptoms. These include ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin) and acetaminophen (Tylenol).
• Anti-itch cream: For very itchy bites, you might consider an anti-itch cream like hydrocortisone (Cortizone 10).

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Signs of tick-borne diseases

Tick bites can cause many different diseases, such as:

• Lyme disease
• tick-borne encephalitis (TBE)
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• tularemia

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most tick-borne diseases cause similar symptoms, including:

• fever
• muscle aches and pains
• headaches
• fatigue
• a distinct rash around the bite

If you experience any symptoms of a tick-borne illness, it’s important to speak with a healthcare professional immediately. These conditions can cause serious complications and even be fatal.

Lyme disease

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease. It usually develops 3 to 30 days after a tick bite.

Alongside flu-like symptoms, one of the key symptoms of Lyme disease is the distinctive rash it causes. It usually appears as a red or discolored circle where you were bitten with a ring circling the bite, resembling a bull’s eye. This can get bigger and bigger with time and may be more noticeable if you have a lighter skin tone.

Without treatment, Lyme disease can cause more severe symptoms in the months after the bite, including:

• a severe headache and neck stiffness
• drooping in your face
• arthritis in your joints, causing severe pain
• nerve pain
• inflammation of your brain and spinal cord

Note that the early symptoms of Lyme disease might go away without treatment, but you can still develop serious complications.

Treatment of tick-borne diseases

Antibiotics are often the first-line treatment because many tick-borne illnesses are due to bacteria the ticks carry. Doctors usually prescribe antibiotics for 2 to 3 weeks. People usually recover quickly and without complications after taking antibiotics.

The antibiotics doctors often prescribe include:

• doxycycline (Acticlate)
• amoxicillin (Amoxil)
• cefuroxime axetil

Summary

Tick bites are very common, and many don’t lead to complications. However, it’s important to remove the tick as soon as you notice a bite. This can prevent you from developing any tick-borne disease, and it’s the first step to take after being bitten.

Keep watch for any symptoms of tick-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease. These include a distinctive rash, flu-like symptoms, and fatigue. Because many of these diseases are due to bacteria the ticks carry, antibiotics are the treatment of choice. These can help clear any infections and prevent serious complications.

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