Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health Tick Bites 101: What to Do and What to Avoid - AI Podcast
Jul 4, 2025
Learn the safest way to remove ticks using fine-tipped tweezers without twisting. Discover why common remedies like petroleum jelly can increase your infection risk. Prevent ticks by wearing protective clothing and using natural repellents. Daily tick checks and creating a tick kit are essential for outdoor safety. Get tips on documenting bites with photos and using dryer cycles to ensure your clothes are tick-free. Stay proactive and informed to protect yourself from tick-borne diseases!
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Safe Tick Removal Method
- Use fine-tipped tweezers to remove ticks, gripping the tick's mouth as close to skin as possible.\n- Pull straight upward slowly without twisting or yanking to avoid squeezing bacteria into your skin.
Handle Tick Mouth Parts Safely
- If tick mouth parts break off, do not dig them out with needles or knives.\n- Leave them alone; your body will naturally expel the fragments like a splinter.
Avoid Harmful Tick Removal Tricks
- Avoid folk remedies like matches, petroleum jelly, nail polish, or heat on ticks.\n- These methods irritate ticks and increase infection risk by causing them to regurgitate bacteria into you.