I found a tic in my ear. Should I be worried or looking for any symptoms?

BOMBS@lemmy.world to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 105 points –

I went to the Appalachian mountains. I left 2 days ago. Just now, I found a tic in a crevice of my ear. It was alive, but wasn't full of blood. It was still thin. I also don't feel any bite marks.

I don't know much about tics or Lyme's disease. Is there anything I should do or watch out for?

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If I were you I'd see a doctor. Assuming you picked it up two days ago, that is sufficient time for it to settle and bite. The fact that it was not engorged is not assurance that you weren't bitten. Some people catch lyme and never show a rash, although that is uncommon.

Your doctor may prescribe an antibiotic as a preventative measure.

If you feel the need to see a doctor, by all means do so. As someone who has spent several decades camping and have been bitten by multiple ticks in my lifetime, I would not worry to much about it unless you start to notice the symptoms of Lyme disease. The CDC recommends seeing a doctor if you develop a rash or fever within several weeks of a tick bite. Source: https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/removal/index.html

While it sounds like you’ve been pretty lucky, keep in mind that the prevalence of Lyme disease has grown significantly over the past few decades

Yes it has. Just to reiterate though, I am not saying a person should not visit a doctor. Everyone needs to to make their own health decisions and seeing a doctor certainly won't cause any harm. I'm just passing along the info from the CDC.

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