Where have you got tick bites?

I got another one.  In my crotch.  Actually a bit down my leg.  Mill Creek Wilderness.  There are places you have to push aside brush so I made good contact with it.

I’ve noticed a particular itch that I instantly recognize as a tick.  I got this one early before he got any of my blood.  His wound has already faded more that the three previous ones from several months ago and a year ago.

I have had 5 ticks in the last year, as many as the previous 40 years.

I had five on me when I got home from a trip in the middle of April – 2 on my right side (under my hipbelt), two on my stomach, and one on my upper thigh.  I used my tick remover tool and they all came out whole, but the stupid bites simply won’t heal completely!  I used hydrogen peroxide on the “wounds” as soon as I removed the ticks and have been putting Neosporin on each bite daily and they are still noticeable bumps a month later.  I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one for whom tick bites take forever to heal.

I’m heading out again this weekend but will be treating my pants and shoes with permethrin as well as wearing repellent.  I hate ticks!

Treat my clothes with permethrin every half dozen washes, after embedded tick in spot I will only describe as impossible for me to see myself… the nurse and doc only chuckled for five minutes. I don’t doubt there is scar tissue… it required a few stitches. The rash that threatened to take over half my body lasted a few days, was taken care of by a round of intravenous antibiotic followed by a course of doxy.

Guess what they use for chiggers? Permethrin laced lotion.

All these tick posts are making me sooooo glad I live in Alaska. And making me wonder if I should ever hike anywhere else!

https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/alpha-gal/

radiolab on NPR

some people have got bites from lone star ticks, common to southeast U.S., and then become alergic to meat.  In some cases, after a while, the alergic reaction fades

when the tick bites it injects proteins that prevent clotting and so forth.  There’s also a protein carbohydrate alpha gal.  Some people have immune response to the proteins to combat future ticks bites.  Alpha gal is also in meats that we eat.  After the immune response to tick bite, whenever meat is eaten, there’s a massive immune response.

Rash on body.  In some cases anaphylactic shock.  You have to go to ER and get epi pen injection.

Anyone experienced this?  It’s probably rare.

I know a guy through work that cannot eat any red meat due to a tick bite.

@JerryAdams – I have it. Takes a bit of time to adjust to the new diet. Alpha-gal is a carbohydrate not a protein. The food chemists hide cows in everything.

That’s pretty obnoxious.  I hope the allergy fades.

Were you infected in the southeast U.S.?

North end of Shenandoah National Park.

Over the years I’ve had bites all over, certainly approaching 100 attached ticks.

The very worst location also happened to be the tick that gave me Rocky Mountain Tick Fever… bored-in right at the end of my D*ck. Oh the irony!