Help! Ticks! What to do?

They are one of our least favourite contemporaries and their bites harbour dangers: the tick. But are ticks always dangerous and how do they get on the human body in the first place? We dispel the myths and have tips on prevention and treatment if it has already happened.

The facts & myths

The best-known species of shield tick is the «common wood tick». In addition to wild and domestic animals, it also favours humans as potential hosts. The animals are particularly active in early summer from April and May until July. They like moisture and warmth. However, if it gets too hot and dry, they crawl back into the foliage.
Even though early summer is the main season for the tiny creatures, they are also really active again in autumn. And even in winter you can theoretically expect a tick bite, provided the temperatures are mild. This is because ticks become active from a temperature of seven degrees.
They sit on grasses, branches and low bushes up to a maximum of 1.50 metres and do not fall from trees, as many people think. As soon as a suitable host passes by, the tick brushes itself off and looks for a warm, moist place on the human body. Favoured regions are: Armpits, back of the knees, buttocks, groin and behind the ears.

The wood goat is blind! It perceives us via chemical stimuli.

Ute Mackenstedt, Germany's top tick expert (source: Süddeutsche Zeitung magazine)

In children, they are often found on the head. This is because children are smaller and the animals are more likely to catch the hair than the child's arm or leg when «host-selecting». The tick is also blind and selects its hosts using chemical stimuli. For example, if someone smells strongly of sweat, it will tend to avoid this host.
As soon as the tick has found a suitable spot on the human body, it gets to work. They anchor themselves with a biting apparatus that carries small barbs. In addition, the animal, which incidentally has no head, produces a kind of quick cement with which the biting apparatus is fixed in the skin. It uses a special trick to do this: Its saliva suppresses the human sensation of pain as well as our blood clotting, which is why we do not realise that we have been stung.
Even if many people are afraid of being bitten: Not every tick transmits the diseases Lyme disease and TBE, although the former is much more common. It is important that the tick is removed as quickly as possible and that a doctor is consulted if symptoms such as a severe skin rash or flu-like symptoms occur.

Prevention and treatment

If you walk along the edge of a forest or path and stick to certain rules, there is less chance of coming into contact with a tick:

  • Nach jedem Waldspaziergang den Körper in den von der Zecke bevorzugten Regionen absuchen und duschen
  • Lange Hosen tagen und Socken über die Hosen stülpen
  • Anti-Zeckenspray (zBs. Anti Brumm Zecken Stopp oder Anti Brumm Insektenspray forte) auf Haut, Kleider und Schuhe sprühen (bei Kindern auch leicht aufs Haar)
  • Helle Kleidung tragen (so sieht man die Zecken besser)
  • Falls gewünscht: Frühzeitige Impfung gegen FSME (für Kinder unter sechs Jahren nicht nötig)

Zecken App herunterladen

The app not only provides information on the areas where the most ticks are located (danger scale), but also contains an information section on what to do if you have already been bitten. There is also a kind of diary in the app, which automatically reminds the user of the tick bite after five, ten and 28 days and displays descriptions of possible Lyme disease symptoms.

Remove the tick correctly

  • It is best to grasp the tick with fine, pointed tweezers just above the skin and pull it out slowly and evenly. Do not twist or squeeze the tick
  • If you do not have special tick tweezers, normal tweezers with angled tips can be used as an alternative. Flat tips are unsuitable as they could crush the tick
  • Another aid is a tick card
  • If no tools are available, the tick can be removed with fingernails if necessary
  • Do not use oil, nail varnish, liquid soap, glue, alcohol, toothpaste or other «household remedies». This increases the risk of the tick releasing infectious saliva
  • After removal, clean the puncture site with wound disinfectant
  • If the tick's biting apparatus remains in the wound (visible as a small black dot), a harmless local inflammation can develop. The skin removes these remains by itself

Read more about parasites & infections:

  • Don't be afraid of ticks
    The little bloodsuckers can transmit various pathogens. This worries many parents. However, they can protect their children if they pay attention to a few important points.
  • «Worms - yuck!»
    Intestinal parasites arouse feelings of disgust in many people and are therefore a taboo subject. But it's worth taking a closer look. Because they are more common than you might think - and are particularly prevalent in children.
  • One sick, all sick ...
    Kindergarten children are often afflicted by viral pathogens. - Why is this? How can families arm themselves against it?