How to Protect Your Family from Ticks and Lyme Disease

Ticks may be tiny, but they carry with them a number of serious diseases such as Lyme disease. Tick-borne diseases can arise worldwide, therefore it's important to learn how to safeguard against them. After an outdoor excursion a couple years ago, I discovered a tick on my child's neck. We were fortunate that it was not a Lyme disease carrier. The experience, however, caused a big enough scare that I did some research to find out how to better protect my family from ticks and Lyme disease in the future. Here are a few tips I found:

First of all, what is Lyme disease?

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that may affect the skin, nervous system, heart and joints of the infected individual. Common symptoms of Lyme disease are fever, skin rashes, headache and fatigue. Other more serious symptoms can occur if the disease is left untreated.

While most cases of Lyme disease are successfully treated with antibiotics, the best protection against tick-borne diseases for you and your family is prevention. Taking these extra precautions will help protect your loved ones.

The American Lyme Disease Foundation recommends exercising these safety measures whenever your family spends time outdoors in temperatures above 45 degrees:

* Wear close-toed shoes and dress in clothes which cover your skin well. Dress in light-colored clothing to make spotting ticks easier.

* Apply insect repellent containing DEET (Diethyl-meta-toluamide) to clothing or skin if you're venturing into overgrown or wooded areas.

* Travel on well-cleared trails as much as possible.

* Tie up long hair away from the face and neck.

* Do quick tick checks of clothing and skin throughout the day.

* Avoid directly sitting on the ground because ticks frequently live there.

* After an outdoor excursion, remove dirty clothing and take a shower. If ticks are found on the clothing, remove any visible ticks and place the clothes in a hot dryer to kill any remaining ticks.

* Conduct a thorough inspection of all family members (including dogs) at the end of the time outdoors. Taking a shower will help remove any crawling ticks, but not any attached to the skin. Pay special attention to these areas when inspecting the body for ticks: around the waist, in hair and around the nape of the neck, in the belly button, behind the back of the knees, between the legs, under the arms, and inside and near the ears.

To find statistics on reported cases of Lyme disease by state, check out the U.S. Map and Statistics page offered by the American Lyme Disease Foundation.

More from this contributor:
How to reduce ticks in your yard without chemicals
Six ways to boost your child's immunity
How can I protect my sleepwalking child?

Resources:
"Lyme Disease" by American Lyme Disease Foundation