What to do if you find a tick on you

Key takeaways

• If you find a tick attached to your body, remove it promptly with fine-tipped tweezers by grabbing it close to your skin and pulling straight up. Clean the area with alcohol afterward.
• Tick bites may look like small red bumps and can appear bruise-like or purple on darker skin tones. A bull’s-eye rash may develop 3 to 30 days after the bite if the tick transmitted Lyme disease.
• Monitor the bite area for up to 30 days for signs of infection like spreading rash, fever, body aches, or joint pain. Talk with a healthcare professional after a tick bite, especially if you live where tick-borne diseases are common.

Overview

Ticks are tiny bugs that feed on blood. They typically live in tall grasses, bushes, or wooded areas, and they can attach to a host when you brush by them. They may not bite you straight away, but they may move around your body looking for an area to attach to. They’ll stay attached to you while they feed and fall off when they’re full.

Tick populations in the United States are increasing. If you find a tick on your body, it’s important to act quickly to reduce the risk of serious complications like Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, or Colorado tick fever.

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What does a tick bite look like?

What a tick bite looks like typically depends on how your body reacts. In many cases, a tick bite may cause no physical signs or symptoms.

In many cases, the bite may look like a small red bump. It may have a small black dot in the center, or you may notice the tick still embedded in your skin for up to 2 weeks after the bite. Tick bites may be harder to identify on darker skin tones, where they may look bruise-like or purple in color.

In some cases, tick bites may cause an allergic reaction. In this case, you might experience swelling, blistering, or a larger red, puffy area around the bite. If you experience an allergic reaction, speak with a healthcare professional as soon as possible.

The most distinctive type of tick bite is known as the “bull’s-eye rash”. This rash appears if the tick has transmitted Lyme disease, and it can appear anywhere from 3 to 30 days after you’ve been bitten. It appears as a red dot surrounded by a clear ring and an outer red circle.

How to remove a tick

If you find a tick on you but it isn’t attached to your skin, it may not have bitten you yet, and you can safely brush it off you. Check your body carefully for bites afterward.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), once a tick gets on your body, it’s likely to migrate to the following areas to attach:

• armpits
• groin
• hair
• back of your knees
• inside your belly button
• around your waist
• inside and around your ears

If you do find a tick attached to your body, you can remove it yourself with a tick removal tool or a set of fine-tipped tweezers. Make sure your hands and whatever tool you use are clean, and follow these steps:

1. Grab the tick as close as you can to the skin’s surface.
2. Pull straight up and away from the skin, applying consistent pressure. Try not to bend or twist the tick.
3. Check the bite area to see if you left any part of the tick in the bite. If so, remove those carefully.
4. Clean the area with water and apply an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, or iodine.
5. Once you’ve removed the tick, put it in rubbing alcohol to make sure it’s dead.
6. Place it in a sealed container. Saving the tick provides evidence of a tick bite for the doctor. It might be a good idea to label the container with the date and location of the bite.

How to treat tick bites

The most important treatment for a tick bite is to remove the tick to prevent developing complications like Lyme disease. Lyme disease development typically requires a tick to be attached for 15 hours or more.

After removing the tick, keep the area clean with an antibacterial wipe, and you should keep an eye on the bite area for up to 30 days to ensure you don’t develop complications. Look out for:

• a spreading rash, particularly one that looks like a bull’s eye
• fever or chills
• body aches
• joint pain or swelling

If you notice any of these symptoms, seek medical attention immediately. If you do develop an infection, your doctor might prescribe antibiotics.

In some cases, doctors might prescribe preventive antibiotics for Lyme disease if you’ve been bitten by a tick. This is a single dose of oral doxycycline, and it’s usually prescribed if:

• the tick that bit you has been confirmed to carry Lyme
• you live in an area where the disease is common
• the tick was attached to you for more than 36 hours

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Online care for tick bites

If you’ve been bitten by a tick, seeing a doctor quickly is important. If you live where tick-borne diseases are common, it is a good idea to talk with a doctor after a bite, even if you do not have any symptoms.

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.

Summary

Ticks are common in outdoor areas like long grass and woodland. If you find a tick on you, it’s important to remove it quickly and carefully. You can use tweezers or a tick removal tool for this.

Even if you don’t have any symptoms following the bite, it’s a good idea to reach out to a healthcare professional for assessment anyway. They can advise you on how to monitor for complications, and they may give you preventive medications.

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