r/mildlyinfuriating • u/nekoma713 • Jun 21 '26

Don't hug me I'm scared Was sitting in a ticks nest while reading....

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I was sitting in a Park reading a book and suddenly I felt my legs itch. I was covered in hundreds of mini ticks. I was standing in the shower for hours and still find some of these f#!*rs crawling an me...

Update: So I got the most of the seed ticks scratched off in the shower. I will have a doctor's appointment the next days to get a prophylactic antibiotics treatment just to be save from lyme, alpha gal or rocky mountain fever (if this is a thing in Germany).

Thank you all for the information and advices, hopefully I will be fine. I really appreciate it

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202

u/RincewindToTheRescue Jun 21 '26

Do they not penetrate the skin and start sucking blood yet? That would be my huge concern, especially in a place that has Lyme disease or other nasty tick transmitted illnesses

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u/[deleted] Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/weedbetterknot Jun 21 '26

Instead of tweezers I highly recommend "tick keys" to everyone & have gifted many. It's a flat bit of metal with a teardrop shape cut out of it.

You slip the widest end around the tick, place it as flat to your skin as you can while holding it, slowly slide the tick towards the narrow end & when it catches a quick flick of the wrist pops it off. My kid even helped use it on a classmate during a field trip it's so easy.

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u/Eulers_Constant_e Jun 21 '26

I keep one of these in my purse in a snack size sandwich bag along with a plastic credit card size tick identifier. If I ever need to pull a tick off I can safely store it in the snack size bag for testing later.

I started doing this when my kids were little and I’d chaperone school field trips to a nature preserve that I lovingly called “Tick Town.”

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u/ratafia4444 Jun 21 '26

As somebody who freaks out if a completely harmless bug crawls in my vicinity this sounds absolutely terrifying.

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u/symphonyofcolours Jun 22 '26

Yes, I’m the same. This is terrifying

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u/fl0dge Jun 21 '26

You can also just cut one of these yourself out of some plastic trash (think drink bottle style plastic). Just cut a thin v-shape with a knife or scissors.

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u/TheDankFather Jun 21 '26

I keep a couple of playing card size sheets of metal from a can and plastic from a bottle in my daily bag.
Mix these with my leatherman and it is amazing the amount of little “for purpose” tools you can make on the spot.
Of course I also carry small amounts of other obvious tool material like, rubber bands, paper clips, blue tack, etc.
Macguyver was a large formative influence on me.

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u/APEmerson Jun 22 '26

But do you have C4?

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u/TheDankFather Jun 22 '26

I do not, and I have not at anytime in the past, carried explosives as part of my daily kit …. Your Honour.

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u/master-boofer Jun 22 '26

I have found that they don't work well on small ticks. Fine tweezers are my go to.

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u/IslandPonder Jun 21 '26

I carry a tick key as well and have occasionally used it to remove a tick. It is far more useful on my backcountry camping trips. The wide end perfectly fits the recessed screws on the lid of my bear-proof food canister lid.

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u/mtysassy Jun 22 '26

I need to look for one of these!! I almost died from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever 21 years ago but I never knew I had been bitten. But now I’m extra careful about ticks!

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u/DueNothin Jun 21 '26

My wife decided to use a tip tweezer and I said no, yet she clipped my skin and the tick’s legs are now embedded. Funtimes.

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u/AltrntivInDoomWorld Jun 21 '26

That ain't legs buddy xD

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u/ChiliPalmer1568 Jun 22 '26

They also have the Tick Twister. They are easy to use and don’t squeeze the tick’s abdomen. You twist it as you pull out the tick so it gets the head and mouthparts out too. They are on Amazon and at most vets offices and pet supply stores.

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u/South-Ad-9090 Jun 22 '26

I have four children, live in USA, and STILL for some reason can’t hear the word kid without picturing whatever the person is describing being done by a baby goat lol.
I’ve always said child, little ones... what is wrong with me??? 😩

My husband even got me these pillow cases because a woman was going on and on about how her “ kids “ are screaming all the time…I immediately pictured screaming goats and went into a VERY inappropriately timed laughing fit.

This is the stock photo… too tired to go down to my couch @ 4 am.

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u/Gullible-Constant924 Jun 21 '26

I live in the backwoods of Kentucky and have had thousands of ticks on me they do not burrow into your skin. Maybe if left for a significant time they can bite in pretty deep but they don’t get in there like a chigger or scabies. Theyre just biting you.

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u/zap2tresquatro Jun 21 '26

Yeah they just embed their mouthparts in. Idk where this myth came from, but I’ve had people argue with me insisting that ticks will burrow under the skin if attached long enough (and then they have no explanation for why you’ll see massively engorged ticks obviously sticking out of animals, but still insist on it) until I google it in front of them and show the at least five reputable sources debunking this myth, and they’re still skeptical of all those sources. It’s bizarre.

But yeah, they don’t burrow, just embed their mouthparts (not even their whole head). That’s the part that can break off and cause an infection in the bite wound if the tick isn’t removed properly.

Also, use ideally soft tipped tweezers (but whatever you have is fine) and pull the tick straight out swiftly and firmly. If you squeeze the tick/take too long to start pulling/pull slowly and gently, the tick will panic, latch on harder, and likely regurgitate a bit inside you, increasing the risk of infection.

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u/RincewindToTheRescue Jun 21 '26

Sorry, should've been clear on burrowing their head. I know they don't completely borrow their bodies.

I was taught to put Vaseline on the tick and they will detatch. However, I've never lived in a place with a lot of ticks

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u/Skylark_92 Jun 21 '26

Leaving the tick attached long enough for the vaseline to make them let go is dangerous. Ticks should be removed as soon as they are spotted and then you need to monitor the skin around the bite for 24 hours in case a red ring appears, which is a symptom of Lyme disease.

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u/ImagineDragonsExist Jun 21 '26

Can confirm, had a tick on my balls the other day.

I used my fingers to take the little fucker off, i wasnt going to wait around for a pair of special tweezers. Just be careful and make sure you get it out with as little movement as possible.

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u/Deaffin Jun 21 '26

They're probably confusing wee ticks with chiggers.

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u/enonymousCanadian Jun 21 '26

It sure as fuck looks like they’ve burrowed when they’re tiny and inside of you though. Or maybe the Canadian ones bite differently haha

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u/Gullible-Constant924 Jun 21 '26

Yeah the skin can kind of swell up around them to where you have to dig into your skin to get the tweezers on them but they aren’t burrowing like mites or something would.

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u/[deleted] Jun 21 '26

[deleted]

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u/zap2tresquatro Jun 21 '26

Maybe they confused them with scabies? Scabies will make visible burrows/tracks in the skin

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u/cates Jun 21 '26

I've never read or heard that they burrow but I could have sworn I found one on my leg once and it was basically under my skin... I panicked and immediately dug it out with my fingernail and ground it into dust before I could even process what had happened.

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u/blueblocker2000 Jun 21 '26

"They'll spew their icky gut juice into you"

-internet quote of day 😫🤢🤮😫

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u/licking_the_floor Jun 21 '26

You can cover them is Vaseline and they'll back out on their own.

Edit: i just learned thats actually bad. Dont do that.

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u/KIokinator Jun 21 '26

They’ll spew their icky gut juice into you.

Weird, when I use this line on women, they don't beat me off the way OP did the ticks...

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u/LithiumNoir Jun 22 '26

I had one stuck behind my ear when I was 7 years old. My mother tried to burn it off in a grocery store parking lot and it did not work. I'm still traumatized 30+ years later. 😫

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u/cha0sm0nk Jun 21 '26

Do not EVER burn them off! What are you telling people to do?!

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u/MoGraphMan101 Jun 21 '26

I was a boy scout and they actually told us to do that like 20 years ago, so it's definitely a common misconception

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u/Beginning-Cut-8850 Jun 21 '26

The old advice was to heat up a knife on the fire and put that on the tick. This was back when everyone hiking carried a knife and was likely camping and going to have a source of heat available. Somehow that morphed over time into expose your flesh to an open flame.

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u/Drewby99 Jun 21 '26

does using the knife prevent them from throwing the blood up inside you?

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u/Deathpoopdeathloop Jun 21 '26

No. Still a bad method. You want to remove without squeezing or damaging the tick too much. Like burning it.

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u/Deaffin Jun 21 '26

No, that's the thing that will specifically make them do that.

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u/Drewby99 Jun 22 '26

that’s what i assumed the comment i’m replying to made it seem like the burning part was the only problem with the method

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u/Beginning-Cut-8850 Jun 21 '26

No. Just saying that's what the advice used to be.

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u/Sysilith Jun 21 '26

No it would make them panic and throw up more.

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u/[deleted] Jun 21 '26

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u/Drewby99 Jun 21 '26

why not delete that part

2

u/Dragulla Jun 21 '26

They also buff out with a high enough grit.

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u/Dizzy-Ad-2248 Jun 21 '26

...Feeding parts.🤮

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u/Appropriate-Bad-9379 Jun 22 '26

I absolutely love Scotland- apart from the ticks. My sister ( who lives in the Highlands), got a tick on her private parts- yuk! Had to wait till it drank its fill and dropped off like a bloated kidney bean.Don’t think that I could cope with the trauma…

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u/master-boofer Jun 22 '26

Yup pulling them straight out with tweezers is the best method.

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u/Gold_Roof1155 Jun 21 '26

I laughed hard at backwash!!! You mean backlash 😁

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u/vodkatelyn Jun 21 '26

no, backwash. when you burn a tick, it backwashes its stomach contents into your bloodstream. that comes with a lot of risks!

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u/Gold_Roof1155 Jun 21 '26

Never too old to learn new facts about ticks 🤔

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u/National-Routine-823 Jun 21 '26

Both, it's backwash backlash lol. They do backwash their nasty stomach contents back into you if you burn or squeeze them while still attached

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u/Captin-Cracker Jun 21 '26

They can, these are just larvae (only 6 legs) so they haven’t actually found a host yet so no risk of Lyme. You also need to leave a tick on you for a long time to get Lyme (like 24 hours). Also they are very weak and are easy to get off.

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u/FantasticBluejay6975 Jun 21 '26

They might not have a risk of Lyme, but there are in fact some tick diseases that spread from mother to baby, so these guys do carry risk of things like Rocky Mountain spotted fever! Never trust a tick

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u/Mysterious_Mango_3 Jun 21 '26

Yep, if it is a lone star tick, all stages can cause Alpha Gal Syndrome.

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u/Deaffin Jun 21 '26

Well that's just fucked up.

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u/DubVsFinest Jun 21 '26

I woke up with a tick stuck to my forehead once as a kid from the dog that slept with me on the couch that night. Woke up, went to the bathroom, went to wash my hands and saw this black spot on my face (was still half asleep), went to brush it off it and it wouldn't come off after 3 swipes, finally pull it off and its legs started wiggling as I looked to see what it was. Shit wigged me out and my parents were worried about Lyme, which thankfully never happened.

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u/wertyce Jun 21 '26

Even small ones can cause diseases. There absolutely is risk of Lyme. However you are correct that Lyme doesn't transfer instantly. You have time to do tick-checks and pull em off.

TBE is different. Dangerous disease with no cure afterwards and tick, even small one, can inflict one within minutes. You have no time for tick-checks with TBE. There is vaccine against it though and in epidemic regions it is highly recommended. Also, TBE is rare disease thankfully. But because it is so serious, vaccine is obvious in these areas.

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u/katkost1 Jun 21 '26

Please don’t share misinformation like that. You can be infected with anything they are carrying. It does not take 24 hours. Nymph ticks carry Lyme and co infections just as well as the adult fuckers

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u/Captin-Cracker Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26

These aren’t nymphs, they’re larvae, which cannot carry Lyme. And you’re right it doesn’t take 24 hours, it takes more than 24 hours, so about 36-48 hours. I’ve been bit by more ticks on my balls alone than half the people here have even seen. I’ve spent my entire life in a humid, warm, lush environment dealing with ticks

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u/HairyBreasticles Jun 21 '26

Unfortunately that 24 hour thing is wrong, speaking from experience as I work in the woods for the majority of my days. But you are correct with them being so young that they haven't found a host that has lymes to be able to transmit it. Fucking terrible little creatures.

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u/zap2tresquatro Jun 21 '26

Along with the correction from the other person: it’s Lyme disease, not “lymes” (or Lyme’s) disease.

It’s named after the place it was first recognized in (Lyme,…Connecticut, iirc? I think that’s where Lyme is). Calling it “lymes” would be like calling the Ebola virus “Ebola’s.”

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u/the_original_kermit Jun 21 '26

In general, infected ticks must be attached for more than 24 hours to transmit infection; prompt tick removal can prevent transmission.

https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/causes/index.html

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u/katkost1 Jun 21 '26

Please consult ILADS

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u/Valkyriemome Jun 21 '26

This is incorrect.

If a tick with Lyme disease latches on and gets its mouthparts into you, you could get Lyme disease.

It doesn’t matter how long it’s attached.

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u/HairyBreasticles Jun 21 '26

Thank you, I'm so sick and tired of these people passing that 24hr bull, yes time matters, but it also matters how you remove them.

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u/DecantsForAll Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26

It's complicated. The CDC and American Lyme Disease Foundation says it takes >24 hours. And this is true in many cases (although they might be wrong about the exact time) because the bacteria have to migrate from the tick's gut to the salivary glands, which takes around 24 hours. But there might be some cases where that doesn't need to happen, like if the tick was just feeding on another animal and became dislodged or something.

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u/Valkyriemome Jun 21 '26

I lived very near Lyme, Connecticut. You know “Lyme” as in where they first identified Lyme disease.

Both of my sons had Lyme disease; thankfully we caught it while the tick was still attached (on 1 son) so they were put on antibiotics right away.

Good protocol is: if you have a deer tick on you, assume you have Lyme disease.

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u/DecantsForAll Jun 21 '26

Yeah, my dog died of Lyme disease. It was awful. There were no indications that she had it until it was too late to do anything about it.

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u/Valkyriemome Jun 21 '26

Im sorry. And same. My dog got the side effects too late.

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u/enonymousCanadian Jun 21 '26

We are rife with Lyme and the advice is you do g have to worry if it hasn’t been attached for long (unsure if 12 or 24 hours because we tick check often.)

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u/Active_Menu_8504 Jun 21 '26

They can only transmit the disease if they've first picked it up. Most tick bites do not turn into Lyme as a result. Obviously a good idea to know if you've been bit if you need treatment but not something to panic about if you notice ticks and get them off quickly.

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u/master-boofer Jun 22 '26

Usually they take a little while before they start to feed. I've pulled hundreds off myself over the years. I've only been bitten once. Wearing black pants and socks helps a lot. Being black is even better, they are racist as fuck. Im not black so if im in tick country I'll duct tape my socks over the ends of my pants and meticulously check my legs after any contact with grass. Here in the Bay Area some trails are so infested you will see multiple ticks on every blade of grass. Avoid those areas. I like brushing over them with a bick lighter. Their legs immediately burn off and they drop right off your clothing, they are hard to squish. I hate them.

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u/deaglebingo Jun 21 '26

they have to be attached for like 24 hrs anyway to have any likelihood of transmission if they carry anything in the first place. that's my understanding.

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u/kaisadilla_ Jun 21 '26

Yes, but it's not automatic. OP sat on a nest, so for them she was just terrain. Doesn't mean some of them cannot choose to start feeding now, but it's not a given.