The tick is the oldest group of arthropod insects. Usually mites eat plant debris or other small insects. But some species became parasites, adapting to feeding on the blood of animals and humans. Such ticks are carriers of pathogens, including tick-borne encephalitis. For humans, the greatest danger is posed by adults in the spring and summer. How to protect yourself from a tick bite?
Instructions
Step 1
The first dangerous adult ticks appear in April, when the warm sun peeps out and the first thawed patches appear. By May, the number of ticks is rapidly increasing. Then their number drops sharply. But isolated active parasites are found until the end of September.
Step 2
Wear light-colored and even white clothes for a walk in the woods. Ticks are easier to spot on white than on black. Elasticated cuffs. Put on a tight T-shirt and be sure to tuck it into your trousers, tuck your trousers into your socks. Wear a tight hat or headscarf.
Step 3
Spray your clothes with a tick repellent (for example, Pretix, Dipterol, Permanon, or Biban). They are usually sold at a pharmacy. Keep in mind - these products are only active for 4 hours, so the repellent will have to be reapplied if you walk for a long time. In addition, in people prone to allergies, this remedy can cause an intolerance reaction.
Step 4
Stay away from bushes. There is a misconception that ticks supposedly jump on a person from trees, especially from birches. Of course, there are many ticks in birch forests, but they do not sit on trees, much less fall from them. A bloodsucker who simply clung to clothes crawls upward, and is often found already on the head or neck. Hence the false feeling that the tick has jumped from above. In fact, they wait for their prey, settling at the ends of long blades of grass sticking upward on twigs. As a rule, ticks cling to a person at the level of his knees and hips. Their main habitat is sunny bushy (up to 1 m) slopes.
Step 5
While walking, do not be lazy to examine yourself and your comrades. Recognizing the enemy is quite simple: the tick looks like a red bug. When you return home, be sure to examine yourself already without clothes. The most common sites for tick suction are the ears, neck, armpits, groin, and inner thighs.
Step 6
If you find a tick on yourself, try to remove it as soon as possible. Long-term contact of the parasite with your blood increases the likelihood of contracting some kind of disease, in particular tick-borne encephalitis. Treat the bite with iodine, put on a mask (in case the tick bursts). Place a regular ring around the tick (a wedding ring is also suitable), fill it with vegetable oil. The parasite will have nothing to breathe, it will disappear. But you will have to wait at least 10 minutes. If the oil does not work, take a strong thread, tie a loop and throw it over the abdomen, pull it as close to the trunk as possible. Gently move the ends of the rope left and right. Do not twitch, so as not to tear off the abdomen, after 2 minutes the bloodsucker will disappear by itself. If the head comes off, wipe the place with alcohol and remove it with a sterile needle or tweezers, like a common splinter. Then treat the wound with iodine or another antiseptic. Do not throw away the tick, place it in the box and go to the emergency room.
