HOW TO HANDLE A TICK BITE: FIRST STEPS
Updated: Oct 20
This post is your quick first-aid guide for the first minutes and hours after a tick bite. For what to ask your doctor about treatment, see my New Tick Bite post:
"Many people suffer lifelong disability because they followed their doctor's advice to 'watch and wait' for symptoms to develop."
ILADS agrees that waiting is risky. By the time symptoms show up, the infection may already be harder to treat.
Here is a video I did to educate on what to do if you get bitten. Share it for awareness, and to learn what to do yourself.
There is a quick-view graphic with the key points at the bottom of this post.
STEP BY STEP (FROM ILADS)
1. Remove the tick with fine-pointed tweezers. Grab it where it meets the skin and pull with steady, gentle pressure. Don't squeeze it, put Vaseline on it or burn it with a match.
2. Put the tick in a sealed bag or small container so it can be identified and tested. Try not to touch it with your bare hands.
3. Clean the bite, your hands and the tweezers.
4. Call your doctor right away. Don't wait for symptoms.
5. Ask your doctor about preventive antibiotics. ILADS recommends discussing this with everyone bitten by a blacklegged (deer) tick. What ILADS recommends, and what to print for your doctor, is in my New Tick Bite post linked above.
6. Keep watching for fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, or fatigue, even after treatment, and call your doctor if they show up.
EXTRA TIPS FROM GLOBAL LYME ALLIANCE
- Don't twist or jerk the tick when you pull it out.
- Put a damp cotton ball in the bag with the tick, then take it to a lab for testing.
- Take a photo of the bite and draw a circle around it so you can tell if a rash spreads.
- If a rash shows up, photograph it, write down any symptoms, and call your doctor right away.
ANOTHER OPTION
If you are interested in an herbal approach, look for Stephen Buhner's guidance on new tick bites. Stephen Buhner is an herbalist, not a medical doctor.
Please know that opinions on this are mixed. Some Lyme literate doctors do not recommend herbal treatment for a new tick bite, because of a lack of research showing it works for this. ILADS recommends antibiotics after a blacklegged tick bite. Please talk with your doctor before adding anything.
HELPFUL POSTS
Get your tick tested (with many options, some free):
Symptom checklist and most common symptoms:
RELATED POSTS
Tick Bite Education
Tick Attachment Time
Tick Repellent for Body and Yard
SOURCES
ILADEF - How to Handle a Tick Bite
ILADS - Lyme Disease Basics for Providers (updated 2026)
ILADS Treatment Guidelines
Global Lyme Alliance - Tick Removal
Global Lyme Alliance - I Found a Tick on Me, Now What? (2023)
Disclaimer: Rise Above Lyme makes no claims about any possible benefit of using any product mentioned within this site. Always consult with your doctor before adding anything. The information shared is based on personal experience, years of accumulated researched resources from Lyme Literate doctors and polls conducted within Lyme groups from actual patient experience using these solution ideas.
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