What Can You do to Prevent Ticks?
Happy beginning of spring! With the weather warming up, we are all so excited to venture outdoors, set up our gardens, walk new trails, and enjoy all that mother nature has to offer. However, this is the time of the year where ticks are also increasing their outdoor presence. It is important to remember that ticks are not only present in deep wooded areas, but are also present in common places that you may be in every day, such as your yard. It is best practice to try to be as tick safe as possible whenever you are outdoors, even if you are not in the woods.
Below are some tips that you can do to help prevent tick attachments and bites - an important first step in preventing Lyme disease and other various tick borne infections.
- Clothing choices
- Wear light colored clothing so that ticks are more easily visible
- Cover your extremities with long sleeves and pants - if it is summertime, look for lighter weighted, sweat wicking materials
- Tuck pants into socks - it may look silly, however you are protecting yourself from crawling ticks that move from the ground and up
- Along the lines of protective skin barriers, panty hose can also be worn as an additional barrier to prevent ticks from attaching to skin as easily
- Look for Permethrin treated clothing - this is a pesticide that can be treated into clothing to help kill ticks. Common clothing brands sell pre-treated clothing items that can last through many washes. You can also spray your own clothing with permethrin spray, however it will not last through many washes. Note permethrin should not be applied directly to the skin.
- When you return inside after being outdoors, remove all clothing and dry them in the hot dryer - this helps to kill any ticks that may have gotten on your clothing
- For your skin, there are natural insect repellents and soaps containing various essential oils available for further protection.
- Tick checks
- This is good daily practice - check your entire body for ticks - and note that nymph ticks can be the size of a poppy seed, so make sure to check carefully!
- Remember to check easily forgotten areas, such as your scalp, behind ears, armpits, belly button, groin, between toes, and other small crevices that ticks could be hiding in.
- Hiking
- Choose to walk in the middle of trails, away from any brush on the sides. Ticks are often more concentrated in this brush
- For reducing amounts of ticks in your yard
- There are tubes available for purchase that are filled with permethrin soaked cotton that can be placed along the perimeter of the yard. They target mice that use the cotton, and end up killing ticks when they feed on the mice. These tubes are considered safe for animals, people, and the environment.
- Keep lawn mowed - overgrowth of lawn provides good locations for ticks to thrive and more easily attach to humans and pets that walk through the yard
- Pets
- Having dogs, outdoor cats, or other animals increases your risk for tick bites - - Pets can carry ticks indoors, which can easily transfer to humans.
- It is recommended to treat pets with medication available to further prevent ticks in your home. Ask your veterinarian which would be the most appropriate for your pet.
- Whenever possible, try to keep your pets out of areas that contain a lot of brush
- Doing daily tick checks for your pets is also a good idea - make sure to safely remove and properly discard of any ticks found
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