THE TICK’S BLOOD SUCTION
Ticks select the most suitable place to bite, then prepare the bite with their saliva. This may already contain infectious bacteria, but its main purpose is to ensure that the bite goes unnoticed: it also contains painkillers, vasodilators and anticoagulants.
During the bite, it continuously penetrates the thinnest blood vessels, the capillaries, with its mouthparts, while attaching itself to the wound with its mouthparts. After 4-6 hours, it is in direct contact with the host’s blood circulation, where it inhibits blood clotting so that it can feed. As the tick prepares for a long blood meal, it weakens the host’s immune response to avoid unwanted attacks on its proteins.
Borrelia and other bacteria and parasites take advantage of this, as it allows them to infect the body in a protected environment for hours or even days. Ticks can therefore infect their host as soon as they bite, and once they reach the blood vessels, the bacteria they carry multiply throughout the entire host organism.
Borrelia bacteria were detected in venous blood just one day after infection, and within two weeks, the bacteria were found in almost all tissues.
INCORRECT REMOVAL OF TICKS
Ticks should be removed as soon as possible after they are noticed. However, an incorrectly removed tick can cause more problems than if it is removed a little later with the appropriate tool.
It is advisable to use specially designed tweezers or a spoon, but traditional eyebrow tweezers can also be used.
The most important thing is to remove the tick alive; do not strangle it, burn it, or smear it with oil or cream. During its death throes, the tick may regurgitate infected blood back into the body.
If using tweezers, be sure to grasp the tick only by its head.
In the video, you can see an INCORRECT example of tick removal, where the tick’s abdomen is also squeezed, which accelerates the infection.
SPECIAL TICK REMOVAL TWEEZERS
The easiest way to remove a tick is with special removal tweezers.
On the one hand, they are pointed, ensuring a very precise grip on the tick’s head. On the other hand, the gap between the tweezers’ legs is large enough to accommodate even a tick’s abdomen, which has engorged itself with blood. Thirdly, the spring ensures a consistently strong grip during removal, so the tweezers will not slip and push the tick’s gut contents into the wound.
Ensure adequate access to the tick. If necessary, pluck away any hairs. Grasp the tick with the tip of the tweezers as close to the skin surface as possible. Twist the tweezers to help detach the tick’s mouthparts from the inside of the wound.
It is not a problem if the tick’s head remains inside, as it will eventually push itself out. Clean the bite site with a skin disinfectant. Check the bite site daily. If the wound becomes red or a spreading red spot develops, consult a Lyme disease specialist or dermatologist.
REMOVING A TICK WITH A NEEDLE
If necessary, the tick can also be removed with a needle.
In this case, make sure that you can remove the entire tick with one quick movement, rather than pricking the skin a little. It is not a problem if the wound bleeds a little.
THE MOVEMENT OF BORRELIA IN ITS NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
This is how Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochete bacterium that causes Lyme disease, actually moves.
Depending on the length of Borrelia, 4-8 waves travel along its entire body length, allowing it to move faster than the white blood cells that are ready to destroy it. According to the latest descriptions, the natural movement of Borrelia is a “flat wave” rather than the spiral or spring shape often depicted in pictures – these are most commonly found in cultures.
