3 ms·
I live in Massachusetts where ticks are prevalent and a high percentage of them are known to carry Lyme disease. Perhaps more than 35% of them. I’ve had dozens
by sholladay 3y ago
I live in Massachusetts where ticks are prevalent and a high percentage of them are known to carry Lyme disease. Perhaps more than 35% of them. I’ve had dozens of ticks on me and at least a dozen of those have started feeding before I noticed them. About six or seven managed to feed overnight before I noticed them.
Thankfully, I’ve never gotten Lyme. However, one of my friends did. Half of his face was paralyzed by the time he found out.
From my experience, I can say that while the consequences are severe, the chance of infection seems to be pretty low. Either that or I’m just extremely lucky. Perhaps I would be an outlier in the data. Or perhaps immunity to Lyme is more common than we realize. Part of me is surprised that I only know one person with Lyme.
Either way, my advice to everyone is to be vigilant but not overly afraid. You can be an outdoorsy person for many years in one of the most Lyme infested areas and be fine. Just be sure to check yourself at regular intervals, especially before AND after sleeping. The risk goes up the longer the tick stays on you, particularly once the tick starts getting full. The rule of thumb I’ve always heard is that if you get the tick off within 4 hours, you should be fine.
My friend who got Lyme never noticed any ticks that summer, but his symptoms developed within a month of a camping trip, so that’s probably how he got it. Noticing them is so important, because they are stealthy.
Last year, there was a day when I found five ticks on me all at once, just from going through the front yard to get the mail. I felt one of them crawling on me after going inside. Again, be vigilant, you won’t usually feel them. If you do feel one, there may be others. In addition to the five on me, I found two more on the floor, which had probably fallen off of my clothing. Most of the year it isn’t that bad. Although, a group of them is actually easier to notice.