Ticks are a major pest during the warmer months of the year, appearing around March and sticking around until late November. These small insects carry a variety of diseases, and their bites can cause Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, allergies to red meat and Powassan virus. These diseases can cause a variety of short and long-term problems, and even death in some cases.
Depending on where you live, you'll need to check yourself, your family members and your pets for ticks after spending time outdoors until the late fall. Different types of ticks are more common in different regions, and carry different diseases - - so finding them and removing them safely are crucial. Accidentally breaking off part of the tick while trying to remove it is also a problem, as it can still transmit its illness, or become infected.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends using fine-tipped tweezers for removing ticks. But what if you don't have any handy?
I discovered a little-known tip some years ago, and it forever changed how I remove the little biters. Here's how to remove ticks quickly, easily and safely -- if you don't have or can't find tweezers. (We've also got tips for how to protect your pets from ticks this season.)
This easy Q-Tip trick will remove a tick quickly
Yes, you can remove a tick with a cotton swab.
Folk methods for removing ticks are usually bunk for one of a few reasons. Either they aim to induce the tick to detach with time -- whereas you should remove ticks immediately to minimize chances of disease transmission -- or they risk injuring the person or animal getting bitten by the tick. (Fire burns skin as well as ticks, after all.)
But this method is quick and harmless. All you need is a cotton swab.
When you locate an attached tick, immediately grab a cotton swab, and gently twirl tight circles around the wound, lightly pulling at the tick. The goal here is not to pull the tick free, but to cause it to release and latch onto the swab. It should happen within moments.
I've removed many ticks this way, and it is invariably quick and painless. What's more, you have virtually no risk of leaving mouth pieces in the wound, since the tick detaches itself.
And if something goes wrong, you can always still run out to the store and get some tweezers, as the CDC recommends.
Once you dispose of the tick, you can clean the bite with soap and water or alcohol. And if you're worried about disease transmission, follow up with these steps.
For other helpful tips related to the outdoors, here's what you should know about using weed killer safely around your pets and five inexpensive ways to give your patio a tech upgrade.
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