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how long does tick have to be on your skin

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Posted 2/19/2012 8:07 PM (GMT 0)
how long does the tick actually have to be biting you?

is there any difference in infection of a person who the tick was under the
skin for a week than an hour?

all the people who never saw the bullseye... what happened to those ticks
that did bite them?

Does the tick get removed by a doctor of those who have the bulls eye?
Posted 2/19/2012 9:41 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Bucci!
If you are asking how long does the tick need to be attached in order to infect a person, the answer is only long enough for the tick to pass the bacteria. While there is some discussion going on about that, it's only from minutes to an hour or two from what I've seen.

I think the biggest difference between someone having a tick attached for a week would be a secondary skin infection. I had a tick attach once in between my first and middle finger and when I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, I pulled it off and threw it down the toilet! When I woke up the next morning , I had those tell tale red streaks going up my fingers and the back of my hand - I not only got re-infected, but got blood poisoning to boot!!

I'm one of those that has never shown a bulls eye rash, although I'm not sure I understand what you are asking??? I pulled all the ticks (being careful to get the entire tick and mouth parts) that have attached to me and was careful to be sure that they were dead!!

When someone gets the bulls eye rash, they have gotten one of the many symptoms -also, the bulls eye rash is the skin form of Lyme.
Posted 2/19/2012 10:16 PM (GMT 0)
i came down with my worst flu ever which i think looking back was my bartonella infection. It lasted like 2-3 weeks, very weak legs, could hardly walk, neuro problems...realy this was the beginning of some of nerve -anxiety -reclusiveness related issues.

i never had any tick bite..i was sort of camping in northern ontario, but we were outdoors swimming etc..so it was either water borne, or a black or biting sand flies of which i remember there being manyl

so ticks are not the only source...i mean if you think about it it, if ticks have it, deer have it, then mosquities and all bugs that feed on blood have it, and birds have it..its a vector illness in this regard
Posted 2/19/2012 10:26 PM (GMT 0)
Good point, Mercury! It's already been proven that mosquitoes, spiders, fleas and other insects such as biting flies (deer flies, horse flies & I don't see why not sand flies) can pass these infections on to humans.
Posted 2/19/2012 10:29 PM (GMT 0)
Seconds..  As Traveler said, just enough time to inject the bacteria (people don't even feel the bite because ticks contain a numbing agent).

Google the White Footed Mouse which is the "host" for most lyme bacteria.  Any blood sucking vector that feed on these mice automatically become a carrier:  black flies, fleas, etc.   Ticks get too much credit! 

Denise

Posted 2/20/2012 2:36 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Deej, good to hear from you . hope you are doing well.

I forgot where I read this morning about this whole thing of the tick having
to be on you for hours. or maybe it was one of the lyme videos that are
confusing as anything and actually have one doctor saying you can give
people ONE DAY of doxy. I think it it part of the videos on here at top of page or it is from some other site that I clicked on to.

still so many doctors out there videoing like they are someone in lyme world and giving a lot of info that is really STILL dismissing the lyme issue.

anyway good to hear from you
Bucci
Posted 2/20/2012 3:02 AM (GMT 0)
I had a doctor (not the one treating me) say that the tick needs to be attached 3-4 days. I don't believe that to be true. Plus, who knows how long those things are on there before we notice? I thought my last one was a freckle until seeing the legs.

I pulled one off my daughter last year would not come off. By the time I removed it from her, it was completely flattened and it's head was still in her skin. Anything and everything that was in that tick was in my daughter at that point, so I don't by the whole it must be xyz days to transfer disease.

"all the people who never saw the bullseye... what happened to those ticks
that did bite them?"

5 ticks between my children and I within 12 months. No bullseye rash, but we did have a red circular area where it was removed. The redness lasted weeks+. I still have a dot on my skin from the one I removed in late Aug./Sept. last year. All 5 ticks met the same fate- the big flush.
Posted 2/20/2012 2:39 PM (GMT 0)
So you have freckles too, Scarlet??? LOL! I always ask my hubby to look for the moving freckles when I come in from outside!!! smilewinkgrin
Posted 2/21/2012 4:33 PM (GMT 0)
What happens to ticks if you don't spot them and remove them? They sit and feed on your blood until they are "full" and then they drop off by themselves. Yuck, I know.

My husband removed my tick, it had only been on for me max 6 hours as far as I can tell. I got a bull's eye.
Posted 2/21/2012 8:27 PM (GMT 0)
If you have a tick attached, it's best to KEEP it for testing - at least that's what they tell me in our local LDAESM chapter. Not sure WHERE to get it tested but you're supposed to keep it.
Posted 2/22/2012 5:44 AM (GMT 0)
Most of the crap out there says the tick has to be attached for at least 24 hours. I know that it takes less then 24 hours because I developed a bullseye rash from a tick that had only been atatched for less then 12 hours. My approach from now on if a tick has bitten me is going to get on Doxy no matter how long it was attached.
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