Beware the Deer Tick
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Deer ticks, in their adult stage are about the size of a sesame seed. You’ll often find deer ticks roaming well into fall, long after wood ticks have gone to bed for the season.

Nymphal stage deer ticks, the size of poppy seeds, are more prevalent in the spring and summer. Ticks don’t remain small very long when attached. As they become engorged with blood they get much bigger and they lighten in colour.

Deer ticks can carry a number of health-debilitating diseases, with Lyme Disease being the most well known. In their ‘later’ stages, tick borne diseases can attack and weaken every aspect of the human body from the heart to the nervous system to the joints and muscles. In its ‘early’ stages, The Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation’s website says the symptoms of Lyme infection can be flu-like and may include fever, headache, fatigue, nausea, muscle ache, jaw pain, red eyes, and stiff neck.

You may experience symptoms very quickly after being bitten by a disease-carrying tick, or you may not develop problems until some time later. This occurs because the Lyme bacteria, called spirochetes, are spiral shaped, a form that allows them to burrow deep into tissues where they wait for opportune times to spread.

Because of the smallness of the deer tick, about 70% of the people bitten are not aware they’ve even been bitten. It’s also important to realize that almost 70% of people bitten never develop the bull’s eye rash.

Beware the deer tick! Prevention is the most effective and most important method in dealing with ticks. If the ticks cannot attach to you…

Repellants

• Deet. Yes, it’s smelly and strong but it does work.

• Geranium and palmarosa essential oil spray. Barbara Hall, of Lady Barbara’s Garden website, a writer and professional gardener, has had eight bouts of Lyme disease. As a result of her experiences, she has developed a Rose Geranium Tick Repellant that repels ticks rapidly. I’ve not yet had the opportunity to try this blend out myself. The spray is based on geranium and palmarosa essential oils. If you’re a do it yourselfer, the essential oils can be ordered online from Mountain Rose Herbs and the spray can be made using the following Basic Essential Oil Spray. (Note that geranium essential oil is contraindicated during pregnancy.)

Basic Essential Oil Spray Recipe: Fill a spray bottle with 1 cup of isopropyl alcohol, 1 cup of water, and 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon of essential oils. Adjust strength according to your preferences. To make smaller batches, just half or quarter the recipe. Easy conversion: 10 drops = 1/10 tsp, 12.5 drops = 1/8 tsp, and 25 drops = 1/4 tsp. Spritz yourself down with the blend before heading outside. You may want to read the articles below for more comprehensive recipe measure amounts for the most effective spray. Remember, as it is with Deet, don’t use this spray on small children or on yourself if you are pregnant because some essential oils can have and emmenagogue effect.

Evidence for essential oils’ repellence of deer ticks:
 • Mountain mint. In his book The Green Pharmacy, herbalist Duke recommends using fresh mountain mint as a deterrent. You can find the herb at Richters Herbs. This mint readily overwinters in Zone 3. It is prone to powdery mildew, though.
General Prevention Methods

• Tuck your pants into your socks. And if possible wear light-coloured clothing so you are able to see the tick hitchhikers.

• Wear hiking boots, tall boots, or preferably rubber boots if possible. The smooth rubber is a difficult traverse for ticks.

• Do daily tick checks. Scan the entire body, front and back, including groin creases, between toes, behind the ears, and in the hairline.

• If you are a hunter, minimize your contact with the deer hide and head. Ticks will hop off the cooling deerskin and latch onto you, your pets, or your family.

• Carefully remove an attached tick. This is to reduce the chances of the tick regurgitating harmful bacteria into your body. The website Stop Ticks on People recommends:
  1. Using fine pointed tweezers, grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible without squeezing the tick’ s body.
  2. Firmly pull it straight out (expect to feel some resistance)….Be sure to note the date and site of the bite for future reference.
  3. NEVER: squeeze the tick, burn it, or cover it with Vaseline or any other substance.
  4. Remember to disinfect the site of the bite, wash your hands and disinfect your tweezers.
  5. Contact your doctor.
Please be careful because the tweezers can slip rather than grip. Not a scenario you want to see happen.

And remember that the above methods work only if you use them.

Having a deer tick latched onto you is kind of like playing Russian Roulette. Some deer ticks may carry disease and some may not. Prevention is best. However, if you do happen to get bitten quick treatment is imperative. Lyme and other tick borne diseases can be potentially life threatening. So if you have been bitten by a tick, have the bull’s eye rash, or are displaying unusual symptoms that are consistent with tick illness, get to the doctor as soon as possible.

Update: With the Canadian medical system (in my area, anyway), doctors will now treat immediately with a short session of antibiotics. This is quite different from the ‘wait and see if the tests eventually show something approach.’ By the time any positive results showed, if it showed at all conclusively, the tick-borne illness had usually spread throughout the body.

Treatments, Approach With Caution, Side Effects Abound
If you do develop Lyme Disease there are a number of potential treatment approaches, including but not exclusive to:

  • The medical system. You may find tremendously differing treatment approaches there.
  • Joseph J. Burrascano Jr, MD, a doctor who has treated numerous people with Lyme Disease: Diagnostic Hints and Treatment.
  • Teasel tincture. First put forth by herbalist Matthew Wood, though his site does not mention it yet, so check out Matthew’s Book of Herbal Wisdom.
  • Very bitter herbs, beware the Herksheimer reaction. Did someone say Ayahuasca?
  • The salt treatment. Again beware the Herksheimer Reaction. Someone is selling this remedy online, which basically recommends expensive salt pills made up at the pharmacist’s. I’ve seen the remedy help but not cure. Very risky if you have hypertension, kidney issues, or other health issue aggravated by excess salt. Go to LymePhoto.com for an in-depth discussion and access to the remedy amounts and methods.
And, curious, your dog can get a Lyme’s prevention shot, why can’t you?

Vaccines Against Lyme Disease: What Happened and What Lessons Can We Learn? (2011)
What is the Herksheimer Reaction?

Wiki describes it this way:

The Herxheimer reaction occurs when large quantities of toxins are released into the body as bacteria (typically spirochetes) die during antibiotic treatment. The same can be true for candida die-off when toxins from the dying candida are released. Typically the death of these bacteria and the associated release of endotoxins occurs faster than the body can remove the toxins. It is manifested by fever, chills, headache, myalgia (muscle pain), and exacerbation of skin lesions. The intensity of the reaction reflects the intensity of inflammation present.

Resource websites
Research Articles and Rebuttals~Controversy Abounds (I’ve Only Included Those Available Free from Publishers)


Related Articles
Exercise, Massage, and New Activity Cautions
Mountain Rose Herbs. A Herbs, Health & Harmony Com

Photo Credits: RawkU5, Deer Crossing Lars Sundstrom
«Back to Pain Free Body
Check out Lady Barbara’s Garden website to read about her struggle through eight bouts of Lyme Disease and what she’s learned treatment-wise. Check out teasel with Wise Woman Susun Weed. And learn how to make tinctures with John Gallagher from Mountain Rose Herbs.


Lady Barbara
allied w/ teasel

Susun Weed
Teasel Root

Mountain Rose Herbs
Making Tinctures