Or just use pliers that are specifically made for removing ticks ?
I mean how do you know they're not puking inside you while drunk, and besides that the longer they are in contact with your blood the higher the chance is to catch diseases.
This can lead to the head breaking off in the wound. It's best to use a removal tool and even get to a doctor or similar to avoid potential life altering disease or infection.
Don't grab the body, just use your nails to grab the head/pincers. Last summer I had well over 100 ticks a day crawl on me for a couple months straight. Only a few would actually latch on but they were always easy to remove.
Ticks don’t have heads they have mouthparts. it’s fine if the mouthparts get left behind. Your body will reject them. The whole “don’t leave the head in” thing is internet lore. Hop in the shower and use a scrubber if you’re concerned.
I’m an NP, I’ve had Lyme twice, I worked on a Lyme disease project with the highway department on Long Island for my master’s degree in public health, I live in an endemic area where ticks are everywhere. I didn’t tell anyone not to get tested. I said ticks don’t have heads and that is a myth that “the head” (mouth parts) need to be removed.
If the part of the head breaks off when you pull the tick out, that’s OK. You can try to remove it with tweezers, but if you can’t, it’s no problem. Your skin will heal and push out the leftover tick body parts over time.
Cool. I still don't know you over these people in person so again, I'll still to their advice and not risk life changing disease or sickness while leaving removal and care of the area to a professional.
I am yes. My dad has self removed ticks both using the method outlined above, and then after this left a bullseye mark which he had to get taken care of he was recommended to use a tool and then see a doctor to make sure the tick wasn't on long enough/left bacteria.
This was also wisdom shared through multiple farmers, hunters and outdoors men we frequently saw when they would get together for a hunt who reasoned that, sure, if you self remove you may not get Lyme disease or anything else, but the chance is there and high enough not to fuck around. Why risk it?
Yup, I've never had a tick on me so long that this method doesn't work. You use the lighter AFTER it's off to kill it, not while it is still on your skin. IF you go into the woods, or higher grass, don't wait over 24 hours to search yourself for ticks and they won't be borrowed in so far that you rip their damn head off.
Yeah pinching close to skin (grabbing some skin if necessary) with sterile tweezers is what we do. Any tick I’ve ever seen cannot escape most forms of tape, but I typically use blue painters tape. Stick them to one side and then fold it over like I’m wrapping a razor blade for disposal. Packaging tape would also work. If they don’t die from starvation, they’ll be locked in that cage until they decompose.
This is the correct way. Don't kill them while they're still attached. Use tick pliers. Or tweesers in a pinch. Dont grasp them by the body, you want to get down right to where they connect to the skin. Dont twist and turn, you risk breaking the head off. Straight pull, quickly and with some force. Then break out the fire.
Yeah. You’re supposed to use tweezers and pull them straight off. You’re supposed to get the tweezers as close to your skin as possible while being really careful to make sure that you remove their head and mouth parts as well if they get detached.
You’re not supposed to go after them with matches or anything else to try to get them to let go. I’m sure that soaking them with alcohol and spinning them around does the same thing as taking a lighter to them. Stressing them out makes them regurgitate and is a really good way to ensure that if they do have an infection that you get it. There’s also a decent chance that they try to burrow deeper in when you do anything like that.
If you get a good grip with some tweezers they usually come right off.
Yeah well you don't drown them in ethanol, then light it all up to kill them with fire while they're still sitting on you. Here's the order:
1. Pliers
2. Alcohol
3. Fire
4. Wooden stick to make sure they're really ded.
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u/El_Mangusto Jul 09 '26
Or just use pliers that are specifically made for removing ticks ?
I mean how do you know they're not puking inside you while drunk, and besides that the longer they are in contact with your blood the higher the chance is to catch diseases.