Understanding if you have been bitten by a tick is very important to immediately implement all the necessary strategies.
With dimensions of a few millimeters, the ticks they are found above all in humid environments rich in vegetation. Precisely for this reason, when you are on a trip to the mountains or a picnic, you risk being bitten by them arthropodsoften confused with insects. Actually ticks are part of the species of arachnidswhich also includes spiders and scorpions.
With an oval body and 8 legsthe male specimens have a color that varies between red and brown, while the female ones to yellow: in Italy the most widespread species of ticks are those of the woods and those of the dog.
To survive, the tick feeds on the elements of the bloodstream found in humans and other animals. She manages to penetrate the skin tissue through her mouth, called the rostrum, with which she bites those whose blood she is sucking.
Understanding in time if you have been bitten by a tick is very important to avoid possible serious health implications. In itself, the tick bite would not be dangerous, but the problem lies in the fact that it can lead to the onset of bacterial diseases or infections.
Tick bite: symptoms
When the tick bites, we often realize this at a glance, seeing it on the skin. The tick bite involves the enlargement of the skin tissue due to the fact that blood has been sucked. In addition, the bite leaves a mark on the skin accompanied by a severe itching.
If the tick bit us how should we behave? In the first place it is fundamental remove the tick in the shortest possible time: to do this you need to contact your doctor or go to the emergency room. In fact, it is necessary to resort to some ad hoc pliers, very thin. The bitten area must be disinfected before removal. Once the tick has been extracted, it would be advisable to preserve its body in a 70% alcoholic solution in order to submit it for analysis. Finally, tetanus prophylaxis is required.
If you realize you’ve been bitten, it’s important to keep the situation under control. In general, the indicators to pay close attention to are whether the skin area around the bite subsequently stretches, if you feel a strong general tiredness, headaches and body aches as well as if you have a fever.
The biggest problem with tick bites is that they can carry dangerous pathologieswhich, if not treated in time, can lead to serious complications.
Among the transmitted diseases are the Lyme disease, leading to a non-itchy skin rash. In the following weeks you may feel fever and have swollen lymph nodes. If you don’t cure it in time it also ends up getting dangerous neurological damage and in the most serious cases it can lead to death. Another criticality is dictated by the tick-borne meningoencephalitis: from flu symptoms it is an acute viral disease which also in this case can have serious consequences on the nervous system.