Frequently Asked Questions

I've been bitten by a tick. What should I do?

There is no right and wrong way to handle a known tick bite. There are differing points of view but no hard evidence at this point to support either approach. You as a health consumer will need to work with your own doctor regarding this matter.

Some physicans and many Lyme groups support a prophylactic approach. This is where the patient is given treatment in case the tick did transmit the infection into the victim's blood stream. For specific drugs, dosages, and length of treatment, please see Dr Burrascano's protocol for diagnosing and treating Lyme. This protocol appeared in the 1997 volume of Conn's Current Therapy a well respected, peer reviewed medical journal. Keep in mind that this is not the more popular approach so you will probably meet resistance from your doctor. The major concern to this approach is overexposure to antibiotics. While this is a valid argument, there seem to be many inconsitencies. Doctors still give antibiotics for things like the flu which will not help and for acne which is merely a cosmetic concern. In addition, the benefits of prophylaxis has not been proven.

The second approach is to wait and see. Not all ticks carry the disease. In addition, not every bite results in transmission of the bacteria that causes Lyme. The patient who chooses to wait and see needs to look out for any type of skin eruption. The classic rash is a bulls-eye type rash. Keep in mind that not all rashes will appear at the site of the bite and may not resemble the target like rashes shown in those pictures. Some patients will get no rash and others may have many satellite rashes. The rash phase can last only a few hours so photographing this rash in natural light is important.

It is believed that as many as 50% may not see a rash. This group may go directly to the flu-like phase. Here the patient feels achy as if he/she is coming down with something. Other possible symptoms may be fatigue, stiffness, sleep pattern changes and a low grade fever. In young children, the only symptom may be irritability and changes in sleep habits. It may help to know that runny noses do not usually accompany early Lyme and may help to distinguish between possible Lyme and a virus. Both the rash and the flu-like phase will go away without medical treatment. This does not indicate cure. It is just a dormant phase. Failure to treat Lyme properly can result in future problems including chronic Lyme. If the bulls-eye rash develops, medical treatment is necessary.

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