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First Aid

Tips for removing a tick from yourself

When a tick latches itself onto you, your first response is naturally going to be to want to get it off immediately. It's important not to just attempt to rip it off immediately with a pair of tweezers, as if you aren't careful, the mouth or even the whole head may remain stuck in your body...eewww!

If you are going to use tweezers to remove the tick, it's a good idea to apply a little methylated spirits or nail polish remover over the tick first. This makes the tick dizzy, and it will sometimes let go and fall off on it's own. At the very least, it's grip will loosen, making it much easy to remove the pest entirely.
Make sure you're in good lighting, and grasp the tick as firmly, and as close to it's mouth as possible. Pull back on the tick, in the opposite direction to how it's body is laying on your skin. This way, it's usually very easy to remove the whole tick.

Another option is to cover the tick in Vaseline, and wait for it to suffocate and drop off on it's own.

Occasionally, a tiny tick may lodge itself in so badly that neither of these methods will be effective. This happened to me once when I was a toddler. In such a case, go down to your local medical center, and have them remove it for you.
And of course,e if the tick is still alive once you've gotten it off, make sure you don't lose your hold of it and let it loose in the house! Crushing and disposing of them,or simply a flush down the toilet is fine.

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