Ticks are tiny arthropods that one will typically find in plant life, shrubbery, trees, and grass. When humans suffer from tick bites, they’re at risk of developing bacteria that can transmit into their bloodstreams. Eventually, this bacteria can give rise to tick-borne illnesses in infected people.
AFC Urgent Care Paramus is able to remove ticks from your skin and diagnose you with any tick-borne illnesses. If you have been bit by a tick, visit our center to get tested today.
Tick-Borne Illnesses
Patients can develop a range of tick-borne illnesses once ticks bite them and the bacteria starts spreading in their bloodstream. It takes blood tests to determine the type of tick-borne illness a particular patient is suffering from.
Tick bites can lead to various illnesses, some of which include:
- Q fever
- Powassan encephalitis
- Colorado tick fever
- Tularemia
- Spotted fever- Rocky mountain kind
- Ehrlichiosis
- Babesiosis
- Lyme disease
General Symptoms to Look for
According to medical experts, tick bites are not really harmful. It is even better when people spot tick bites early on and extract them in time. This way, no significant damage occurs. However, when the bacteria spread into the bloodstream and diseases start developing, patients can experience several symptoms. These include:
- Feeling numb in the feet and hands or experiencing a tingling sensation
- Lymph nodes start swelling
- Muscle and joint pain
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Stiffness in the neck
- Bruise-like or red rashes or spots near the bites. The medical term for this condition is “erythema migrans.”
Treating these Illnesses
The prognosis is far more positive if patients detect tick-borne illnesses as early on in the developmental phase as can be. Generally, it does not take more than an antibiotic or two to cure the disease of tick bites.
In most cases, patients have to start taking medications even before their lab results determine the type of illness they develop. The doctors assess the symptoms and put the patients immediately onto medications.
In the case of patients allergic to tick bites or pregnant patients, the doctors may put the patients on allergy treatment courses or order a regimen based on specialized medication.
Secondly, once the lab results confirm the type of disease, doctors begin administering more specific courses of treatment. For instance, in more severe cases like Powassan, medications do not generally work. When patients are suffering from the worst stage of this disease, they may have to hospitalize to prevent the brain from swelling and gain assistance with breathing.
Final Thoughts
There are various kinds of tick-borne illnesses that develop when tick bites start contaminating the bloodstream of patients with bacteria. There are specific treatment courses for each illness type, while in most severe cases, one may require hospitalization to contain their brain swelling and breathing difficulties.
