I live in south Germany where TBE (Tick-borne Encephalitis) is increasingly a problem. I go cycling and camping and I have been very lucky so far not to have been bitten. Once I spotted a tiny sand coloured tick crawling up my leg. It was so small I don't know how I noticed it. There is a vaccine to protect against TBE. I was very happy to take it last month with a booster shot four weeks later.
Just spent a night camping in Lyme, Connecticut USA. This is the town that lends its name to Lyme Disease. I live in the very urban city of Boston but I grew up in Connecticut as a very active outdoor recreation enthusiast. Almost everyone I know who spends time outdoors has had Lyme Disease. Many get it from gardening. Living in Boston I don’t hear of it. The deer tick is what we get it from. We have an increasing population of deer and where the deer are numerous so is Lyme Disease.
Julia my wife had to be treated after being bitten in an area liked by deer near Kendal UK, they seem to favour living in areas of braken and other undergrowth.
3.40 Ticks contract Borrelia bacteria when having first blood meal from primary host, usually rodents or birds. Deer themselves do not carry or transmit the Borrelia bacteria that cause Lyme disease. Thus, a tick feeding on a deer cannot become infected and subsequently transmit that infection to a human or other host. As deer are not a transmission host, they are referred to as a non-competent host for Borrelia.
Excellent advice. Probably the most comprehensive & accessible video I've seen on the subject. I'm very tick aware and have been picking ticks off me for 40 odd years now and (touch wood!) have not become ill. But my mum (similarly aware) did get Lyme's disease a few years ago. She never saw a rash (there is the possibility that the tick got into her hair) but the symptoms were there & she sought treatment. All good. Scottish GPs are much more tick aware than they used to be but urban doctors are less likely to see Lyme's than their rural counterparts. The advice I've been given is to push your GP in the direction of considering Lyme's & even ask if they will give you antibiotics before blood test results come back. The earlier you can start treatment the better. I wouldn't be waiting for anything like a 10cm rash to appear before heading for the clinic: any kind of rash that doesn't disappear in 36 hours after tick removal is getting my full attention!
Thanks for sharing this important information! Tip: if you’ve removed a tick, make a note of when that was and where on the body, that way if a rash occurs you can better remember where it was and make the link to the tick.
Fantastic getting professional input. In all my years in the outdoors I've never been bitten by a tic . Clegs on the other hand are a problem, the bites from them cause me immense problems if not treated right away.
There are some aspects which should be mentioned in this video. I don't know about the UK, but Ukrainian officials often remind that if you find a tick biting you, you can submit it to the laboratory for analysis (it's cheap). Don't you have such analysis in the UK? Also, I heard that taking DOXYCYCLINUM antibiotic during the first 3 days after the bite might significantly decrease disease severity if the tick was infectous. If you get bitten when you travel abroad, naturally, you don't have time to test a tick or your blood in a local laboratory (which might not be nearby). So it's the choice between severe disease course (because of time lost by postponing the tests until you return) or side effects of antibiotic if taken on the go.
Hi Ross - the points you raise are not mentioned in the video because they're not UK protocol as has been explained to me. Bear in mind, Dr Douglas is an acknowledged expert on ticks in the UK and if he'd wanted either of those points in, I'm sure he'd have told me. This is how I'd respond to the two points you raise. Firstly, lab analysis; tick bites are an almost daily occurrence for forest workers, and as an outdoor user, I get about one a month. I'm sure I'd find a lab to take my money and tell me that 95% of these are harmless, but I'd be spending a heck of a lot, and forest workers would find it almost impossible to keep track of all the ticks sent for analysis. If there was an infection through a bite, then I'd (probably, not definitely) know soon enough through the spreading rash. It's about being alert to all the various symptoms. The emergence of those symptoms is the time to head to the doctor for antibiotics. Taking an antibiotic after every tick bite on the off-chance you have an infection can a) cause illness through over-use and demolition of healthy gut bacteria plus b) contribute to antibiotic resistance. I'll be guided by a doctor who is an expert in the field.
@@alwaysanotheradventure Yeah, I remember one hiking trip 20 years ago when I was literally unscrewing 10 to 20 ticks from my legs every day for a week. Back then, I would be tired of taking antibiotics and testing with such quantity of ticks.
Same here. The tick was the size of a speck of dirt on my ankle (only visible because of the necrotic centre/ pimple) and the super itchy rash went from foot to groin. However the headache was a killer - worse than your worst cheap tequila bender hangover. Two weeks of antibiotics and it was over.
Excellent overview, advice and, practical tips as well as not scaremongering about going into the outdoors. The only thing to add is ticks don't just inhabit the 'great outdoors' increasingly in urban settings, parks, gardens, and so on. So this advice is of very wide use.
Good informative video. when i was a kid (im 50 now) i don't remember having to be aware of ticks. seems its been in the last 15ish years that ticks have had a population explosion. I went hiking last year and was careless whilst camping and had over 30 ticks on me when i got home. it was horrifying........ get a jab against against tick viruses if you can and always, always have some insect spray whenever you go out into the countryside.
Lyme disease, which occasionally causes inflammation of the brain, is caused by a bacterium (Borrelia burgdorferi) and there is no jab that protects against it. Early treatment with antibiotics is effective. The jab protects against another disease that is transmitted by ticks, called tickborne encephalitis (TBE). This disease isn't mentioned in this video because the causative virus isn't found in Scotland and is very rare in England and Wales. If you travel to mainland Europe (esp eastern, central and northern Europe) and some other places and are at high risk of 'being ticked', it's a good idea to get the jab. But you need to be jabbed twice, the first more than four weeks before exposure and you need regular boosters to maintain immunity.
@@johnpowell9174 This makes sense as I live in Prague in the Czech Republic. Before all the restrictions it was an easy thing to hop over the borders here to Germany and Austria for some time away in the mountains and forests. I have been "jabbed" twice and go for my booster on Tuesday. actually it was this vid that reminded me.
@@alwaysanotheradventure It was. i didn't notice them as most were 1mm or smaller. It was my girlfriend who asked what was the thing on my cheek. One was in my hair and crawled onto my face and attached itself. we then spent the next hour with a head torch and a magnifying glass checking every square centimetre of my body (how embarrassing !!!!!!) checking if the small dark spots were moles or ticks. Thankfully no target rashes or anything but it was an eye opener for me and I am very aware of them now.
Wow! Just read a thread on FB with lots of ill informed advice regarding ticks and lymes disease.everything from 'leave them alone till they fall off' to 'you wont get lymes disease if theyre on for less than 24hrs'!!! Scary stuff! I posted a link to your vid. I'll take my advice from a doctor every time☺
Plenty of ticks in the New Forest and Hampshire generally from my own experience - also be aware that the incidence of Lyme infested ticks is high in these areas of England. The tick card/tick twister is best but in an absolute emergency I have adapted a credit card or loyalty card by nicking the corner with a penknife - obviously do follow the advice in the video first. Thanks again for excellent videos.
Great advice and very useful video . Thanks so much . Not had a tick that I know of but have had two occasions where I’ve had a leech. Once was only walking through damp green , the other bathing in a stream . All the best 👍
I heard that the bacteria doesn't enter the blood stream when the tick is injecting the anticoagulant but instead the bacteria enters the blood when the tick deficates whilst feeding. And that's how the Lyme disease bacteria enters blood stream. Also that is why the way in which you remove a tick can be so important.. Any clarification on this?
What you heard is wrong according to Dr Douglas, and he's something of a UK expert on ticks and Lyme disease. He clarifies this at 3:47 - "when it's locking onto you to get the blood meal it will inject that bacteria into you and that's the whole business of disease transmission. That is how Lyme disease occurs". Nothing there about only waiting until it starts feeding, it CAN happen as it locks on. But of course, there's no certainty it will. However, if you remove it badly and squeeze it, you can inject the entire guts of the tick into your body, and that's only going to make matters worse.
I've only ever been bitten by a tic once which was near Plockton. In ignorance I just brushed it off and had no ill effects. I suppose I was lucky. I thought about lyme disease later and went to the pharmacy for advice. Thankfully it came to nothing. I will be holidaying in Ullapool later this year and will treat them with a bit more respect.
I don't think I've ever seen a tick in England but became aware of them when cycling around the new forest for some reason, still, maybe I'm just lucky. Planning to go back there later in the year so I'll pick some spray up. Thanks! 😁
There is not always a bite site. I became severely depressed and tired and my doctor had a hunch I'd been bitten. Sure enough, I proved positive for Lyme. It took many months to feel better.
I find tick removal tools hard to use when the tick is small. My home made solution is a square piece of plastic cut from the lid of a margarine tub, with a shallow V then cut out of it. Because it is so thin, it slides under the tick very easily.
I get no less than four ticks latched on every year and remove many more before latching. I don't find the plastic shoehorn type tick twisters in the vid any good, I find them too thick to get under the tick and especially bad on smaller ticks, also the fact you then twist it yourself sometimes results in dismembering the tick. The cards are good, my favourite option though is the tick removers that look like the tool you use to help thread a needle, you just slide it over the tick and it does the twisting for you, they are often sold a bit too big and so not so good on the tiny ticks. In regard to clothing I disagree with the general concesus to cover up, I have found that more often than not when I have had a tick latched on it has been beneath clothing often when wearing trousers, I put this down to when my arms and legs are bare I feel them crawling because they tickle my hairs, but if I have trousers on the fabric numbs this sensation so by the time I know they are there it is the itchy feeling you get because they are latched. I've found they like to latch on to softer skin i.e between the toes, behind the knee, around the armpit, in the groin etc, so when I stop I pay particular attention there. A friend of mine who is just as active in the same areas as me has only ever had one but it was on his foreskin 😬. I was once climbing in eskdale and another friend asked me why I had one white sock and one grey sock, I didn't, it was covered in ticks 🤮 Good vid by the way
Great video. Really important information. What do you think about using Dimethiconesilacon to prevent ticks? They sell it for prevention for dogs and cats. Does it work ? Or is it like those ultra sonic collars? I have gotten Borrelia, Lyme diseaes, twice in Sweden, got my TBE vaccination this year.
Here we go John - th-cam.com/video/LEftyPKQ1E0/w-d-xo.html Since making this video I've been sent a pair without the front loop and they suit me much better. they really are great bars. Redshift Kitchensink
I’m being treated for Lyme disease, and then I caught Covid again and I’ve never felt so unwell Evan though I’ve been vaccinated anyone with lymes disease on here get Covid and did it make you fell very unwell
Ticks is something only become aware of last 15 yrs really. Thats why I like to sleep in a tent now with a complete inner mesh , thats my excuse 🤣 . If I sit down or brush anything in the woods or footpath I immediately think ticks ! . The other big carrier of ticks is cats and dogs! That will bring them into the house tent or bed ! . Our jack russell with white fur will often come back with a couple of ticks from a walk so the dog gets a check up after every walk too as well as medication incidently in the south of England where we are i don't think its been a big year for ticks so far , fingers crossed ! 👍
I live in south Germany where TBE (Tick-borne Encephalitis) is increasingly a problem. I go cycling and camping and I have been very lucky so far not to have been bitten. Once I spotted a tiny sand coloured tick crawling up my leg. It was so small I don't know how I noticed it. There is a vaccine to protect against TBE. I was very happy to take it last month with a booster shot four weeks later.
Just spent a night camping in Lyme, Connecticut USA. This is the town that lends its name to Lyme Disease. I live in the very urban city of Boston but I grew up in Connecticut as a very active outdoor recreation enthusiast. Almost everyone I know who spends time outdoors has had Lyme Disease. Many get it from gardening. Living in Boston I don’t hear of it. The deer tick is what we get it from. We have an increasing population of deer and where the deer are numerous so is Lyme Disease.
Deer here too Duane
@@alwaysanotheradventure oh deer
Julia my wife had to be treated after being bitten in an area liked by deer near Kendal UK, they seem to favour living in areas of braken and other undergrowth.
@@brianjones2118 They do. Bracken is where you’re most likely to find ticks.
Cheers Simon appreciate you taking the time to do this with Dr Douglas - excellent information bursting the tick myths
Thanks for suggesting we do it John - it was your idea.
3.40 Ticks contract Borrelia bacteria when having first blood meal from primary host, usually rodents or birds. Deer themselves do not carry or transmit the Borrelia bacteria that cause Lyme disease. Thus, a tick feeding on a deer cannot become infected and subsequently transmit that infection to a human or other host. As deer are not a transmission host, they are referred to as a non-competent host for Borrelia.
fascinating
Excellent advice. Probably the most comprehensive & accessible video I've seen on the subject.
I'm very tick aware and have been picking ticks off me for 40 odd years now and (touch wood!) have not become ill. But my mum (similarly aware) did get Lyme's disease a few years ago. She never saw a rash (there is the possibility that the tick got into her hair) but the symptoms were there & she sought treatment. All good.
Scottish GPs are much more tick aware than they used to be but urban doctors are less likely to see Lyme's than their rural counterparts. The advice I've been given is to push your GP in the direction of considering Lyme's & even ask if they will give you antibiotics before blood test results come back. The earlier you can start treatment the better. I wouldn't be waiting for anything like a 10cm rash to appear before heading for the clinic: any kind of rash that doesn't disappear in 36 hours after tick removal is getting my full attention!
All very good points- and I'm pleased you like the video
Thanks for sharing this important information! Tip: if you’ve removed a tick, make a note of when that was and where on the body, that way if a rash occurs you can better remember where it was and make the link to the tick.
Good point James - take a photo, close up and wider, so you know where it was.
Fantastic getting professional input. In all my years in the outdoors I've never been bitten by a tic . Clegs on the other hand are a problem, the bites from them cause me immense problems if not treated right away.
Clegs are horrible - take big chunks out of your skin. Ugh
There are some aspects which should be mentioned in this video. I don't know about the UK, but Ukrainian officials often remind that if you find a tick biting you, you can submit it to the laboratory for analysis (it's cheap). Don't you have such analysis in the UK? Also, I heard that taking DOXYCYCLINUM antibiotic during the first 3 days after the bite might significantly decrease disease severity if the tick was infectous. If you get bitten when you travel abroad, naturally, you don't have time to test a tick or your blood in a local laboratory (which might not be nearby). So it's the choice between severe disease course (because of time lost by postponing the tests until you return) or side effects of antibiotic if taken on the go.
Hi Ross - the points you raise are not mentioned in the video because they're not UK protocol as has been explained to me. Bear in mind, Dr Douglas is an acknowledged expert on ticks in the UK and if he'd wanted either of those points in, I'm sure he'd have told me. This is how I'd respond to the two points you raise.
Firstly, lab analysis; tick bites are an almost daily occurrence for forest workers, and as an outdoor user, I get about one a month. I'm sure I'd find a lab to take my money and tell me that 95% of these are harmless, but I'd be spending a heck of a lot, and forest workers would find it almost impossible to keep track of all the ticks sent for analysis.
If there was an infection through a bite, then I'd (probably, not definitely) know soon enough through the spreading rash. It's about being alert to all the various symptoms.
The emergence of those symptoms is the time to head to the doctor for antibiotics. Taking an antibiotic after every tick bite on the off-chance you have an infection can a) cause illness through over-use and demolition of healthy gut bacteria plus b) contribute to antibiotic resistance.
I'll be guided by a doctor who is an expert in the field.
@@alwaysanotheradventure Yeah, I remember one hiking trip 20 years ago when I was literally unscrewing 10 to 20 ticks from my legs every day for a week. Back then, I would be tired of taking antibiotics and testing with such quantity of ticks.
Ticks and mosquitoes worry me the most. Very nice of Dr. Douglas to chime in.
Fantastic to get concise and expert information in a sensible way without any of the drama. Great video, thanks for sharing :)
Yup been bitten and got Lyme disease when on the West Highlands way. Bulls eye rashes on the ankles and severe head ache, very bad news for me.
Same here. The tick was the size of a speck of dirt on my ankle (only visible because of the necrotic centre/ pimple) and the super itchy rash went from foot to groin. However the headache was a killer - worse than your worst cheap tequila bender hangover. Two weeks of antibiotics and it was over.
Excellent overview, advice and, practical tips as well as not scaremongering about going into the outdoors. The only thing to add is ticks don't just inhabit the 'great outdoors' increasingly in urban settings, parks, gardens, and so on. So this advice is of very wide use.
Good video...........Cheers. Those tick twisters are superb. I would encourage everyone to get a set and carry them.
Good informative video. when i was a kid (im 50 now) i don't remember having to be aware of ticks. seems its been in the last 15ish years that ticks have had a population explosion. I went hiking last year and was careless whilst camping and had over 30 ticks on me when i got home. it was horrifying........ get a jab against against tick viruses if you can and always, always have some insect spray whenever you go out into the countryside.
Lyme disease, which occasionally causes inflammation of the brain, is caused by a bacterium (Borrelia burgdorferi) and there is no jab that protects against it. Early treatment with antibiotics is effective. The jab protects against another disease that is transmitted by ticks, called tickborne encephalitis (TBE). This disease isn't mentioned in this video because the causative virus isn't found in Scotland and is very rare in England and Wales. If you travel to mainland Europe (esp eastern, central and northern Europe) and some other places and are at high risk of 'being ticked', it's a good idea to get the jab. But you need to be jabbed twice, the first more than four weeks before exposure and you need regular boosters to maintain immunity.
@@johnpowell9174 This makes sense as I live in Prague in the Czech Republic. Before all the restrictions it was an easy thing to hop over the borders here to Germany and Austria for some time away in the mountains and forests. I have been "jabbed" twice and go for my booster on Tuesday. actually it was this vid that reminded me.
30 sounds horrendous.
@@alwaysanotheradventure It was. i didn't notice them as most were 1mm or smaller. It was my girlfriend who asked what was the thing on my cheek. One was in my hair and crawled onto my face and attached itself. we then spent the next hour with a head torch and a magnifying glass checking every square centimetre of my body (how embarrassing !!!!!!) checking if the small dark spots were moles or ticks. Thankfully no target rashes or anything but it was an eye opener for me and I am very aware of them now.
That was very informative. My brother and I will be bike packing Lejog in late July / early August so we will be looking out for ticks!
useful info, thanks. I do carry a 'credit card' tick remover but did not know about the rash.
Wow! Just read a thread on FB with lots of ill informed advice regarding ticks and lymes disease.everything from 'leave them alone till they fall off' to 'you wont get lymes disease if theyre on for less than 24hrs'!!! Scary stuff! I posted a link to your vid. I'll take my advice from a doctor every time☺
Thanks Jimmy - I had no idea there was so much wrong info out there!
Plenty of ticks in the New Forest and Hampshire generally from my own experience - also be aware that the incidence of Lyme infested ticks is high in these areas of England. The tick card/tick twister is best but in an absolute emergency I have adapted a credit card or loyalty card by nicking the corner with a penknife - obviously do follow the advice in the video first. Thanks again for excellent videos.
Good tip to adapt an old credit/store card!
Well done Si. Fantastic video.
Glad you enjoyed it Suresh
Great advice and very useful video . Thanks so much . Not had a tick that I know of but have had two occasions where I’ve had a leech. Once was only walking through damp green , the other bathing in a stream . All the best 👍
thanks for a rational video about ticks - Brilliant stuff
Thank you Andrew. Dr Douglas knows his stuff.
Scary stuff. Used to see them on cattle and farm animals, didn't know they go after humans too.
Great video, good didactics. Keep them coming!
Thanks, will do!
I heard that the bacteria doesn't enter the blood stream when the tick is injecting the anticoagulant but instead the bacteria enters the blood when the tick deficates whilst feeding. And that's how the Lyme disease bacteria enters blood stream. Also that is why the way in which you remove a tick can be so important.. Any clarification on this?
What you heard is wrong according to Dr Douglas, and he's something of a UK expert on ticks and Lyme disease. He clarifies this at 3:47 - "when it's locking onto you to get the blood meal it will inject that bacteria into you and that's the whole business of disease transmission. That is how Lyme disease occurs". Nothing there about only waiting until it starts feeding, it CAN happen as it locks on. But of course, there's no certainty it will. However, if you remove it badly and squeeze it, you can inject the entire guts of the tick into your body, and that's only going to make matters worse.
Very clear and helpful advice, thank you!!
Glad it was helpful Jos
Very, very clear, informative and helpful guys. Many thanks:)
Glad it was helpful Eddie
A lot of stuff I didn't know in that. Thank you, it was very informative. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Really helpful video and something I hadn't even thought about, thanks and I'll be buying a tick twister!!
I've only ever been bitten by a tic once which was near Plockton. In ignorance I just brushed it off and had no ill effects. I suppose I was lucky. I thought about lyme disease later and went to the pharmacy for advice. Thankfully it came to nothing. I will be holidaying in Ullapool later this year and will treat them with a bit more respect.
I took much the same approach Gerard - I never thought twice about ticks. Now I makes sure a couple of those tick twisters are in any first aid kit.
I don't think I've ever seen a tick in England but became aware of them when cycling around the new forest for some reason, still, maybe I'm just lucky. Planning to go back there later in the year so I'll pick some spray up. Thanks! 😁
Very clear and informative - should be watched by anyone heading outdoors in ‘tick areas’ 👍👍 Must remember to delete those intimate photos 😉
There is not always a bite site. I became severely depressed and tired and my doctor had a hunch I'd been bitten. Sure enough, I proved positive for Lyme. It took many months to feel better.
That’s rough Ian. Thanks for sharing
I find tick removal tools hard to use when the tick is small. My home made solution is a square piece of plastic cut from the lid of a margarine tub, with a shallow V then cut out of it. Because it is so thin, it slides under the tick very easily.
That is an excellent tip Iain!
I get no less than four ticks latched on every year and remove many more before latching.
I don't find the plastic shoehorn type tick twisters in the vid any good, I find them too thick to get under the tick and especially bad on smaller ticks, also the fact you then twist it yourself sometimes results in dismembering the tick. The cards are good, my favourite option though is the tick removers that look like the tool you use to help thread a needle, you just slide it over the tick and it does the twisting for you, they are often sold a bit too big and so not so good on the tiny ticks.
In regard to clothing I disagree with the general concesus to cover up, I have found that more often than not when I have had a tick latched on it has been beneath clothing often when wearing trousers, I put this down to when my arms and legs are bare I feel them crawling because they tickle my hairs, but if I have trousers on the fabric numbs this sensation so by the time I know they are there it is the itchy feeling you get because they are latched.
I've found they like to latch on to softer skin i.e between the toes, behind the knee, around the armpit, in the groin etc, so when I stop I pay particular attention there.
A friend of mine who is just as active in the same areas as me has only ever had one but it was on his foreskin 😬. I was once climbing in eskdale and another friend asked me why I had one white sock and one grey sock, I didn't, it was covered in ticks 🤮
Good vid by the way
Glad you’ve found what worked for you and thanks for sharing the info.
very useful advice.
What many people don't know is, that the rash may not come out for up to 3 months after being bitten
Great video. Really important information. What do you think about using Dimethiconesilacon to prevent ticks? They sell it for prevention for dogs and cats. Does it work ? Or is it like those ultra sonic collars?
I have gotten Borrelia, Lyme diseaes, twice in Sweden, got my TBE vaccination this year.
Gosh Linda I have no idea - that's something to ask a doctor
Hi Simon what are the Handel bars on your bike cheers
Here we go John - th-cam.com/video/LEftyPKQ1E0/w-d-xo.html Since making this video I've been sent a pair without the front loop and they suit me much better. they really are great bars. Redshift Kitchensink
I've been bitten many times here in the West of Ireland in the past but very lucky: never got Lyme's.
I think Lyme's is more of problem nowadays.
I think you're right. Dr Douglas believes incidence is increasing and will soon be announcing a project to try to work out whether this is the case.
interesting video! 👍
I’m being treated for Lyme disease, and then I caught Covid again and I’ve never felt so unwell Evan though I’ve been vaccinated anyone with lymes disease on here get Covid and did it make you fell very unwell
Oh poor you that sounds an awful combination.
Ticks is something only become aware of last 15 yrs really. Thats why I like to sleep in a tent now with a complete inner mesh , thats my excuse 🤣 . If I sit down or brush anything in the woods or footpath I immediately think ticks ! . The other big carrier of ticks is cats and dogs! That will bring them into the house tent or bed ! . Our jack russell with white fur will often come back with a couple of ticks from a walk so the dog gets a check up after every walk too as well as medication incidently in the south of England where we are i don't think its been a big year for ticks so far , fingers crossed ! 👍
You're right - got to check the cats and dogs
I got dengue fever from wearing cycling shorts, never again, leggings from me
How awful. Not too much of it in Scotland thankfully.
Did anyone else feel a bit itchy after watching this?