- REMOVE IT CAREFULLY. Use a tick spoon, tick key, or tweezers. Make sure you get all the parts of the tick out. Clean the wound with antiseptic. Apply an anti-bacterial ointment, like Neosporin. Disinfect the tick spoon, key or tweezers. If you can’t remove the tick, come to the Boothbay Region Health Center. We will remove it for you and save it for testing. If you didn’t save the tick, jump to Step 4 (and remember to save it next time). If the tick was embedded, get treated. Don’t wait for symptoms, like a rash, to develop. A tick can infect you within minutes.
- SAVE THE TICK. Put it in a plastic bag or in scotch tape. If it’s still alive, you can freeze it. Don’t worry about whether it’s squished. It will be pulverized anyway during the testing phase.
- SEND THE TICK TO BE TESTED. That way you will know what disease(s) your tick was carrying. Go on the Internet to either of these two labs:
- University of Maine Tick Lab: https://extension.umaine.edu/ticks/ The University of Maine Tick Lab is the least expensive option. They will test the tick for the diseases that are most prevalent in Maine: Lyme, Babesiosis and Ehrlichiosis/Anaplasmosis. The fee is $15.
- University of Massachusetts/Amherst Tick Report service: https://www.tickreport.com/ The University of Massachusetts’ TickReport is more comprehensive. They will also test for Powassan Virus, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and other tick-borne diseases. Their prices range from $50 to $200, depending on how comprehensive you want it to be.
- In either case, fill in the online form and your credit card info and then mail the tick by regular mail in a regular envelope to the address they give you. You will receive the results via email in 3 days from either Lab. Share these with your medical provider. They should go in to your medical record.
- SEE A LYME-LITERATE PROVIDER ASAP. Don’t wait for the lab results from the tick to go to the doctor. The chances are at least 60% that you have been infected with at least 1 tick-borne disease, and probably 2 or 3. So, you should start on a course of antibiotics right away. The sooner you knock the bacteria out, the better. (If the tick test comes back negative, just stop taking the antibiotic, but it’s better to be safe.) Ideally, you should get a prescription for 100 to 200 mg of Doxycycline for 30 days. A few days isn’t enough if you are infected with one or more of the bacteria that cause Lyme and these other co-infections. Watch for symptoms and report any symptoms to your Lyme-literate provider. This will help them determine which blood tests to do. Once you both know which diseases you have, your treatment will attack each one.
- MAKE SURE YOUR BLOOD TEST GOES TO A SPECIALIZED LAB. Standard lab tests, including Lyme tests, are NOT reliable. You are likely to get a false negative. To be sure, have your blood tested by one of the labs that specializes in detecting tick-borne diseases. The Boothbay Region Health Center uses two such labs: IGeneX and Vibrant. These tests are expensive and are not always covered by health insurance. Medicare WILL cover one thorough test per year. If you need a test and can’t afford the cost, ask for information on available scholarships, such as the Free Bed Fund for residents of the Boothbay peninsula.