While ticks can be found year-round, common disease-carrying species are most active during the warm summer months from May to August. Here’s what you can do to keep yourself safe from tick-borne diseases while enjoying the outdoors.
Dress the Part
Treat clothes, shoes, and outdoor gear with permethrin, and apply insect repellent to your clothes and skin as well. If possible, wear long sleeves and pants. Bonus points for light-colored clothing; it’ll be easier to see (and remove) ticks.
Update Your Landscape
You don’t have to be in the deep backwoods to encounter ticks. Reduce the tick habitat in your own yard by regularly mowing the lawn, removing leaf litter, clearing tall grasses and brush, and removing furniture or trash that may hide ticks.
Check, Check, and Check Again
After time in the garden or local parks, throw your clothes into the dryer on a high setting and perform a thorough tick-check on your body. Make sure to check all the warmest areas like your armpits, groin, and behind your ears. Ticks can be as small as poppy seeds and easily hide in hair, so the more thorough you are, the safer you’ll be.
If you can, take a shower within two hours of coming inside. It’s a great chance to do that tick-check, and can help wash unattached ticks off your body.
Safely Remove Ticks
Did you find one on your skin or your pet? Don’t panic! First, use fine-tipped tweezers to pull out the tick, taking care to grab as close to the skin as possible. After it’s removed, clean the area with rubbing alcohol or soap and water. Put the tick in a container with rubbing alcohol or flush it down the toilet to be sure it doesn’t reattach or spread diseases.
Pennsylvania residents can test ticks for diseases for free by sending them to the Tick Lab. The CDC also has a handy Tick Bite Guide that asks a series of questions to walk you through tick removal after you’ve been bitten.
Ticks in rubbing alcohol that were removed from Laura's pet dog after a romp in Schenley Park. (Laura Tsutsui / City Cast)
Watch Your Symptoms
Ticks carry a number of transmittable diseases. If you’ve been bitten, monitor yourself for fever or a rash at the bite area. Check in with your doctor: They may recommend an antibiotic to prevent disease after a tick bite.
If you send the tick in for testing, you may learn if it was carrying diseases such as Lyme disease, Anaplasma, or Rocky Mountain spotted fever even before symptoms appear.
If bitten by a Lyme disease-carrying tick, a rash resembling a bullseye might develop at the bite site. (CDC)
Protect Furry Friends
If you have pets that spend time outside, talk to your vet about possible tick preventative medications and vaccines. Give them a thorough tick-check after walks to make sure you’re not tracking the bugs into your home.
If you find an attached tick on your pet, remove it and monitor your pet for symptoms.
