4 ms·

A long time ago, I tried to remove a tick with tweezers. I failed horribly and left the head in my upper skin layer, having removed only the body. So I had to u

A long time ago, I tried to remove a tick with tweezers. I failed horribly and left the head in my upper skin layer, having removed only the body. So I had to use a a rather sharp pen knife to remove the rest. Two year later, while camping, I had to remove a handfull of ticks and a tick removal tool (shaped like a crowbar) was very usefull.

jjeaff 9y ago
Next time, just use your fingernail. Never fails. Much better than any tool.
- jemfinch 9y ago
  Will you please stop spreading this misinformation? If you want to use backwoods folk medicine on yourself, you're free to do so. But stop recommending this bullshit to others. What you're doing here is no better than the tick-removal version of the anti-vaxxer's playbook. The American Medical Association says in multiple places to use tweezers in a very particular way to remove ticks: * https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/207551 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/207551 * https://books.google.com/books?id=2Yg7LVohnXEC&pg=PA314&lpg=PA314&dq=american+medical+association+removing+ticks&source=bl&ots=De0eGGT-yC&sig=iwqn_sYk9xmtv9nhUMagagGXjKI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjQ96_rkvTaAhVKwlkKHXA3DcsQ6AEwCXoFCAAQkwE#v=onepage&q=american%20medical%20association%20removing%20ticks&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=2Yg7LVohnXEC&pg=PA314&lpg=... So how about you let the doctors be doctors and stop spreading misinformation and ignorance?
  - dang 9y ago
    You've broken the HN guidelines here. Please don't be uncivil, regardless of how wrong another comment is. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - jemfinch 9y ago
      I disagree. Calling bullshit "bullshit" isn't uncivil. Cf. Paul Graham's own essay on bullshit: http://www.paulgraham.com/vb.html http://www.paulgraham.com/vb.html . Or his 2014 tweet on political correctness: https://twitter.com/paulg/status/512776361824354304 https://twitter.com/paulg/status/512776361824354304 . The objection that I'm being uncivil is DH2, "responding to tone". Yes, my tone is dismissive, specifically because the advice being given ought to be dismissed. If HN has become a place where unscientific, unsound folk medicine cannot be called "bullshit" then I'll happily take my leave.
      - dang 9y ago
        The incivility comes more from the combination of aggression and self-righteousness. We don't need that here, and since it detracts from any true information you're conveying, there's no trade-off in simply leaving it out. (Citing pg makes the opposite point to what I think you intended; I've never once known him to behave like that, either in writing or in person.)
baud147258 9y ago
Of course I would recommend everyone to use proper tools to deal with ticks, if that's not clear from my comment. There's less risk to leave pieces behind. All over, I must have remove a dozen of ticks, but luckily I've never caught anything.

jjeaff 9y ago

Next time, just use your fingernail. Never fails. Much better than any tool.

jemfinch 9y ago
Will you please stop spreading this misinformation? If you want to use backwoods folk medicine on yourself, you're free to do so. But stop recommending this bullshit to others. What you're doing here is no better than the tick-removal version of the anti-vaxxer's playbook. The American Medical Association says in multiple places to use tweezers in a very particular way to remove ticks: * https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/207551 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/207551 * https://books.google.com/books?id=2Yg7LVohnXEC&pg=PA314&lpg=PA314&dq=american+medical+association+removing+ticks&source=bl&ots=De0eGGT-yC&sig=iwqn_sYk9xmtv9nhUMagagGXjKI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjQ96_rkvTaAhVKwlkKHXA3DcsQ6AEwCXoFCAAQkwE#v=onepage&q=american%20medical%20association%20removing%20ticks&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=2Yg7LVohnXEC&pg=PA314&lpg=... So how about you let the doctors be doctors and stop spreading misinformation and ignorance?
- dang 9y ago
  You've broken the HN guidelines here. Please don't be uncivil, regardless of how wrong another comment is. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - jemfinch 9y ago
    I disagree. Calling bullshit "bullshit" isn't uncivil. Cf. Paul Graham's own essay on bullshit: http://www.paulgraham.com/vb.html http://www.paulgraham.com/vb.html . Or his 2014 tweet on political correctness: https://twitter.com/paulg/status/512776361824354304 https://twitter.com/paulg/status/512776361824354304 . The objection that I'm being uncivil is DH2, "responding to tone". Yes, my tone is dismissive, specifically because the advice being given ought to be dismissed. If HN has become a place where unscientific, unsound folk medicine cannot be called "bullshit" then I'll happily take my leave.
    - dang 9y ago
      The incivility comes more from the combination of aggression and self-righteousness. We don't need that here, and since it detracts from any true information you're conveying, there's no trade-off in simply leaving it out. (Citing pg makes the opposite point to what I think you intended; I've never once known him to behave like that, either in writing or in person.)

baud147258 9y ago

Of course I would recommend everyone to use proper tools to deal with ticks, if that's not clear from my comment. There's less risk to leave pieces behind. All over, I must have remove a dozen of ticks, but luckily I've never caught anything.