Help tick head stuck in my leg!

[Millymollymandy]

I noticed it yesterday but thought it was a scab from shaving my legs and today went to pick the scab off as it seemed to be half hanging off - only it wouldn't come off so warning bells rang . Armed with speccies and magnifying glass I discovered it was in fact a teeny tiny tick, so out came the tick removing widget...... then like the idiot that I am that can't tell right from left or east from west I turned the damn thing clockwise instead of anticlockwise...... and broke the head off which is stuck in my leg.

I've put tea tree antiseptic spray on it (cos I couldn't find the iodine - later found in the animal not human medicine shelf ) but I don't know what I should do now or what is the strongest best antiseptic to use; I also have hydrogen peroxide 3% (I think) and Savlon.

Eeeks it's the first time I've not got one out totally. Anyway it has reminded me to Frontline the cat!

[Green Aura]

We removed a tick from one of the cats by putting a couple of drops of lavender on to it, at skin level. The whole thing died and came out easily. Don't know if you could do that to just the head?

[Durgan]

To late now. In the days of yore a lighted cigarette held close to the tick was effective for removal.

[Moonwaves]

I think you might need to go to the doctor at this stage. I know my sister has a tick-remover-thingy but on occasion she has still had to bring one or other of her kids to the doctor for this.

[frozenthunderbolt]

Tip of a fine sharp scalpel? Do a home micro-biopsy? Ive cut out pinhead moles with fine scissors before and that worked quite well - depends on how anti-doctor you are i suppose.

[Millymollymandy]

I googled and you treat it like a splinter - dig it out or do nothing and wait for body to reject it. Nothing to worry about and no need for doctors ( ) - that's for when you get Lyme disease.

Does prove the point that my tick widget must be turned anticlockwise though - obviously I've never wanted to test doing it the wrong way before........

[Masco&Bongo]

Please think about checking yourself out with the local doc... http://www.bada-uk.org/

Incorrect tick removal can result in Lyme Disease/Borreliosis, or other infections. A friend of mine was bitten by a tick in the New Forest last summer, and is still off work now with problems relating to the bite.

[bean gardenin']

I agree with you M&B, my sister caught lymes disease from a tick last year even though she successfully removed it. It can cause problems later on if not treated promptly.

[Millymollymandy]

I am watching it for signs of Lyme's Disease because it was on me for at least 18 hours. It's not the head left behind that can cause the disease though as the tick is now dead, so whether I leave the head in or not won't make a difference. It's starting to itch though so I think I may have a dig around with a needle later.

[herbalholly]

I'd be squirting it with Myrrh tincture in a spray bottle and poking it out with a craft knife and then squirting more Myrrh on. Myrrh is my answer to lots of things though...

[Millymollymandy]

Will I smell like the 3 Kings then? I don't even know what myrrh is! - or a craft knife for that matter, is that like a Stanley knife? I prefer a needle!

[Mrs Moustoir]

We are closer to nature (in all its gory glory!) here MMM.

Do keep a close eye on it. My OH was very ill last year following an insect bite. Not Lymes but almost as nasty - 10days in hospital nasty - blood poisoning!

[Susie]

I'd be squirting it with Myrrh tincture in a spray bottle and poking it out with a craft knife and then squirting more Myrrh on. Myrrh is my answer to lots of things though...

I think I'm going to faint. I hope your tick head sorts itself out MMM, I'm worried about you!

[Millymollymandy]

Ahhhhhh thanks I am watching it. I think I will try to get it out though but in a way I didn't want to disturb the skin around because I might not then spot the early stages of the bulls eye rash.

The tick itself was the smallest I've ever seen, barely a mm so probably not suprising its head came off. I crushed it and strangely enough there wasn't any blood in it!

Mind you the kind of ticks my dog used to get when I was a kid were the enormous grey kind that make your stomach churn (I was told they were sheep ticks). If I found something like that attached to my body I don't know what I'd do, throw up then scream for my husband I suppose! I get the creeps just thinking about those ones.

[Millymollymandy]

I dug a great big hole in my leg with a sterilised needle (well it looked big through a magnifying glass ) and finally, finally got the black thing out. However I'm not so sure that it was a head as it was a tiny black speck that looked more like a leg - do they embed front legs too? Quite honestly I don't know what I'm looking for in a tick head especially a tiny one no more than a mm long - anyway it stopped itching straight away and I sprayed the hole with tea trea spray and it scabbed over very quickly.