Ticks!

Ok, I spotted four ticks either on clothing or on skin this event. Keep your eyes peeled, and check your clothing and yourself for any. No lyme disease please!

This message brought to you by the fact that ticks are really gross.

Yeah, they really suck.

He'll be here all week folks, please tip the wait staff. 

And yes, the ticks were out in force, mostly the big ones, I didn't see any of the little Lyme's buggers, but given how small they are, it's very easy to miss them.

Remember to give yourself a nice, long shower or a bath, check yourself, and wash your clothes.

Are there any sprays or lotions one can use to repel them?

As a note, some more recent research suggests that bigger ticks might be spreading Lymes disease as well, so big or small please use caution, and if at all worried get tested!  If caught early, Lymes is curable with just a strong dose of antibiotics.  But once more advanced symptoms appear, it is much more difficult to diagnose and treat.

Some deep woods repellants claim to repel ticks - Not sure what studies have been done to prove it.  So to be on the safe side, make sure to spray your legs and arms especially, and also check yourself for ticks after being out in the woods. 

Deer Ticks started it In Lymes CT hence the name.  The Single spotted Texas Tick has carried it.  The Common Brown Dog tick is also a carrier in areas with Lymes.

Lyme disease is spread by these ticks when they bite the skin, which permits the bacterium to infect the body. Lyme disease is not contagious from an affected person to someone else. Lyme disease can cause abnormalities in the skin, joints, heart, and nervous system.

Ticks are carriers of the Lyme bacterium in their stomachs. The ticks then are vectors that can transmit the bacterium to humans with a tick bite. The number of cases of the disease in an area depends on the number of ticks present and how often the ticks are infected with the bacteria.

This from the PA Lymes Disease website:

There is a product called Damminix. It is Permethrin on cotton balls in tubes. It’s a bit expensive. The idea is that you place the tubes around your property. The mice, which are a part of the Lyme cycle take the balls to make nests. The Permethrin on the balls kills the ticks or larva on the mice. I’ve seen the nests when I’ve take apart woodpiles.


So if your repellant has permethrin in it then it will help.

...one was head deep in my bicep. I found him when I returned home 10 hours later from the camp.......bicep survived; tick did not.

If one has hair on one's body and pays attention, one can usually feel them as they locate to a nice spot.  If you have smooth legs, too bad.  There are repellents that work, but self awareness is best.  They hardly ever settle on a smooth, open (hairless) spot.  Nape of neck is a favorite.  If you will be attending the festival, you will be exposed to ticks in the fields, despite Tucker's best efforts to collect them all.

If using repellents with pyrethrim, read and follow directions carefully--they usually include things like spray in a well ventilated area 12 hours before exposure and usually you are spraying your shoes, socks and other clothing, not your body.  Pyrethrims are not chemcials you really want on your skin.  Even "plain old" DEET in high enough concentrations will take the paint off pencils and dissolve rubber.  If you plan on sweating, watch you forehead application and hands as well. 

When checking yourself for ticks make sure to check the warmest areas of your body as that is the most common place to find them - armpits, back of neck, behind ears, groin, etc.  If you find one don't try to pull it off or squeeze it. Put vaseline, baby oil, or olive/vegetable oil on it then remove with tweezers. The oils will cause the tick to dislodge itself making it easier to remove and less likely that it will transmit any diseases.

If you start feeling flu-like symptions within a week or two of being in the woods make sure to go to a doctor immediately to start antibiotics.

If you're already a Lyme Disease carrier (i.e. been bitten by a tick before, showed symptoms, and will now come up positive the rest of your life), can a bite "infect" you a second time? Cause a flare up?

I already went through that once. It sucked .

As someone who has in the past and is again working as a secretary for a Lymes disease specialist, I feel qualified to answer this question.

Not everyone that has been bitten by a tick and gotten an positive test result will test positive the rest of their lives.  If you are bitten, show symptoms, and are treated with the standard dose of strong antibiotics within the first few few months, more often than not the disease will be treated and will leave the system.  After that, if you are bitten again or show symptoms again, you should be treated again.  That does not necessarily mean you are carrier, just that you've been reinfected.

There are however growing numbers of people that do carry the disease, and cannot get rid of it.  This typically occurs when the infection was not found and treated within the first several months.  Interestingly, a small number of these cases never show up positive on the standard Lymes disease blood tests, or show up positive on some but not on others, or only show positive on spinal taps, etc (there are several blood tests, some better than others depending on the particular case).  That being said, for those people with recurring Lymes disease, it typically lies dormant in the system (usually not showing up in any tests at this time).   Flare ups can occur sporadically, under certain stressors, or the symptoms can simply stick around permanently, never going dormant and only able to be managed by Lymes-literate doctors and the right mixes of medication.  

So to specifically answer your question:  If you have had Lymes in the past and gotten rid of it, yes you can be reinfected with the disease a second time.  If you have recurring Lymes disease that is currently lying dormant, yes it is possible for a new bite to cause a flare up or second infection.  Either way, only a certified physician can tell you the right course of action, so see a doctor if you have any suspicion of symptoms in order to have the best chance of fighting it.

The more you know o_O.Thanks Kristen!

And knowing is half the battle.