How to avoid ticks

If a tick becomes your blood brother, it’s possible you could be infected with the Borrelia bacteria. But never fear — even if Lyme disease leaves its mark, a month-long course of potent antibiotics is likely to soon get you out of the woods. It’s possible to get Lyme disease more than once, especially if you frequent areas where Borrelia-bearing ticks are prevalent. Here are some key precautions.

Mow regularly, and treat it with an insecticide in the late spring or early fall. Try pyrethrins (called permethrin in its synthetic form), which can eliminate 90 percent of tick infestations.

Wear long pants tucked into high socks when you're in grassy or wooded areas. If you wear light-coloured pants and socks, it'll be easier to spot the ticks. To kill any ticks hiding in folds or seams, put your clothing in a dryer on high heat for 30 minutes.

Look for a product that contains the insecticide DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) in a concentration up to 30 percent. Spray it on your pants, shoes, socks and exposed skin. But never use DEET-containing products on very young children.

If you're in a tick-infested area, when you go inside, first take a shower and wash your hair. Then look over your skin carefully, and ask someone to check the areas you can't see. Re­member most ticks that carry Lyme bacteria are tiny and look like moles or freckles.

Using curved, sharp-tipped tweezers, grasp the tick and pull up steadily, without twisting. Once the tick is extracted, don't touch it: drop it into a jar of alcohol. Wash the site and dab some antibiotic ointment on it. If you want to know for sure whether that tick carries Borrelia bacteria, take it to your doctor.