Lyme disease is a bacterial infection spread through tick bites; specifically the tiny deer tick. It is becoming more common as tick population is increased in some areas and more people are outdoors in the long grass and brushy wooded areas where ticks live. It can also be brought in on pets with ticks that drop off and then get on the owners.
Lyme Disease Symptoms
Early symptoms are flu like things such as chills, fever, body or head aches and a bulls eye shaped rash around the bite site. Not everyone develops the rash so the absence of it cannot be used to rule out Lyme disease.
Treatment for Lyme Disease
Treatment is usually 2-4 weeks of antibiotics. Some people continue to have symptoms after the antibiotics. There is also the chance of other tick-borne illnesses (i.e. rocky mountain spotted fever) with tick bites.
The best action is prevention.
- Use repellents (there are some more natural ones available that may need more applications but can be as useful as the nasty chemical ones),
- Wear long pants tucked into socks and long sleeves tucked into gloves when in terrain where ticks are found.
- Checking for ticks after being out doors – remove them before they bite.
What to do if you think you got bitten by a tick
First it is vital to figure out what the type of tick you have been bitten by. There are two ways to do that, we recommend doing both of these things after you have very carefully removed the tick from your body, using tips at this link: How to remove a tick
- Step 1: Identify the tick, follow these no-cost steps to become part of a nationwide tick study and have them analyze a photo of the tick at no cost: https://tickencounter.org/tickspotters
- Step 2: discover if the tick was infected in any way, Follow these steps (the $50 fee is well worth the piece of mind for most people) at this link: https://www.tickreport.com/
After being bitten, doctors recommend coming in as soon as any symptoms start. Antibiotics are believed to be more effective if the disease is diagnosed early. Usually they diagnose by symptoms after a bite – blood tests can be run but are not always positive in early exposure.
Left untreated the bacteria can affect joints, and nerve cells and become severe. It is more difficult to treat at that stage.
This is the best source of accurate Lyme disease data we’ve found: Root of the Lyme Problem.
For people you know that have been infected, Acupuncture has been proven very helpful in helping offset the detrimental effects of unresolved Lyme disease. We can give you examples of many people who suffered for years and then were helped back to normal daily functions.
FYI My sister was treated for Lyme disease a couple years ago after a tick bit her while gardening. She has had not recurrent symptoms and it seems to have been knocked out by the antibiotics. She did do a long course of probiotic supplements during and after the treatment to protect her digestion.
