Even though most ticks look like harmless little black dots, they bite into you as if life itself depended on it. Which, for them, it does. Once you identify the source of your annoyance as a tick, there are a few ways to effectively remove them from your person with a minimum of fuss and damage.

The first thing to do is remove any clothing and check for other ticks. No point having one crawl from your sock to your calf while you are killing its brother, right? When you are sure there are no other ticks, you may proceed.

The quickest and least harmful way to get a tick is to use tweezers. Getting a good grip at the point where mouth meets skin is the key. Gripping the end of the tick will not give you enough leverage and you might merely kill it without removing it, or break it apart leaving the mouth still embedded in your skin. Make sure each side of the tweezer is dug under the tick; make sure you feel it touch skin. Squeeze it together hard and pull back in one motion. If this does not work try working it back toward you side to side.

That should remove the tick quickly and efficiently.

If that does not work you can try what might be a painful backup plan: burning it. Stick the lighter flame under the area. Start from a safe distance, light it, and work toward the tick. Often they will detach before you get close enough to even burn hair, but sometimes they do not. You could also try running the area across the flame quickly; too quick to hurt you, but death for the tick. These methods work but you have a slight chance of burning yourself. Make sure this is only a backup plan.

My sister tells me you can cover the area with vasoline and suffocate them, but in my experience the method of tweezer removal and burning work so quickly and effectively that I have never needed to try it.

Good luck!

Learn more about this author, Royce Radcliffe.
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