Tick these TikTok tricks off your list.
With the rise in disease-harboring ticks across the country also comes an uptick in viral hacks to remove the nasty suckers.
But don’t believe everything you see online — some methods may leave you with more than an itch to escape the city this summer.
Tick season in the US spans April to October — but back at the start, bites were already sending people to the ER at the highest rate in nearly a decade.
It’s not just getting snacked on by a bug you have to fear: There’s Lyme disease, alpha-gal — which leaves those infected forced into veganhood due to new meat allergies — and the lesser-known Powassan, which recently left a New Hampshire man nonverbal.
These parasitic arachnids certainly pack a punch, so routine tick checks and removal as soon as possible are essential.
But beware old wives’ tales (and new viral hacks) you find circulating on social media, which are ineffective at best — and dangerous at worst.
“Currently, there are an overwhelming number of online sources offering tick removal tips on TikTok, and many of those tips have been found to have no medical basis,” Dr. Jason Schroder, board-certified anesthesiologist, told The Post.
Social media’s tick-removal hacks:
- Lighting a match, blowing it out and using the hot tip to force the tick to detach
- Covering the tick with a thick layer of Vaseline or petroleum jelly
- Painting an attached tick with nail polish to suffocate it
- Soaking a cotton ball in liquid soap and covering the tick for 30 seconds — with the hope the tick will be lifted away attached to the cotton ball
- Smothering an attached tick in peppermint oil
The problem isn’t just that they may not work — they may also increase your likelihood of an infection.
“Using petroleum jelly, heat, nail polish or other substances to try to detach the tick from the skin may agitate the tick and force infected fluid from the tick into the skin,” Dr. Tammy Lundstrom, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Trinity Health told The Post.
Forcing the fluid or saliva of the tick into the body is how disease-causing organisms — like Borrelia burgdorferi, which causes Lyme disease — can enter the bloodstream, according to Schroder.
“The longer the saliva-to-skin connection exists, the higher the risk of infection,” he said. “From years of treating patients, controlled removal is what protects you, not speed.”
How should you safely remove a tick?
To properly get a tick out, both Schroder and Lundstrom recommend using fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible.
While avoiding squeezing the tick’s body, gently pull the tick away from the skin, firmly using steady pressure.
Don’t twist or jerk the tick, as “mouthparts may be left in the skin during removal, resulting in a secondary infection if they are twisted or jerked,” Schroder said.
Once the tick is out, don’t crush it. Instead, place it in a sealed container, wrap it in tape or flush it down the toilet.
Be sure to clean the infected area with rubbing alcohol and wash your hands thoroughly.
But both experts say that’s not the final step.
“The thing that most people overlook is that there is a 30-day monitoring period,” Schroder said. “If you get a rash that looks like a bullseye around the bite or you have fever and muscle pain, seek medical attention immediately.”
While Lyme disease is easily treated with antibiotics in the early stages, it becomes more difficult to treat if ignored.
Lundstrom also recommends checking the rest of your body for any extra visitors, “paying special attention to areas covered in hair.”
Beyond checking for and detaching them, tick bites can also be prevented by wearing EPA-registered insect repellent and permethrin-treated clothing.
