With the weather cooling off, you may be sighing from relief that bug bites are mostly a thing of the past. Ticks, however, can hang around well beyond the summer months. In fact, ticks are still a threat and can bite humans up until the first frost of the year. Understanding when ticks are prevalent can help you better protect yourself if you plan on being outside in nature this fall. This blog will review tips for preventing tick bites, as well as how to identify a tick bite and treatment options available.
If you’re bitten by a tick, seeking timely medical care is essential. At AFC Urgent Care Edgewater, our walk-in clinic is available 7 days a week to provide rapid same-day treatment for tick bites. Walk into the clinic when it’s convenient, or save your spot online in advance using the button below.
How to Identify a Tick Bite
Tick bites are painless due to their small size. Because of this, you may not notice that you’re bitten. Ticks embed into the skin while they feed, then will release off of their prey when they’re done. If you don’t see the tick biting you, you may have no indication that you’ve been bitten by a tick. However, there are a few signs you can look for to determine if you were bitten by a tick including the following:
- Tick attached to the skin
- Mild itching at the bite site
- Developing a bullseye rash
- Extreme fatigue
- Fever
Tips for Preventing Tick Bites
Ticks are parasitic insects that feed on blood. They often come into contact with humans when we walk in grassy or wooded areas without covering our skin. They like to hide in hard-to-see areas on the body, so it is always wise to check in your armpits, behind your ears, and between your toes if you’ve been in tick-populated areas. To avoid tick bites, you should fully cover your skin when spending time outdoors in wooded or grassy areas. This includes wearing long pants and socks that cover the bottom of your pants to avoid ticks getting under your pant legs.
Treatment Options for Tick-Borne Illnesses
If you’re bitten by a tick, there is a chance that you can contract a tick-borne illness. There are many different varieties of tick-borne illnesses that can spread to humans, but Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness. If your medical provider thinks you were bitten by a tick, they will perform diagnostic testing for common tick-borne illnesses in your area. Based on the results, most tick-borne illnesses are easily treated with a round of antibiotics.
Visit AFC Edgewater for Same-Day Tick Bite Treatment
Ticks can transmit diseases to humans through a bite. If you’re bitten by a tick, it is important to seek medical treatment immediately. When you visit AFC Edgewater for tick bite care, our team of board-certified medical providers will walk you through the process of removing the tick (if necessary), performing diagnostic testing, and informing you of symptoms of common tick-borne illnesses to watch for.
Our walk-in clinic in Edgewater, Maryland, is open 7 days a week and accepts walk-in patients daily! We work with most medical insurance plans, and we have affordable rates for patients paying out-of-pocket for their care. To learn more, give us a call at (410) 956-3394 to speak with a member of our team.
