How To Remove a Tick

Presence of a tick attached to the skin

None

Inadequate or partial removal of the tick may cause infection or chronic granuloma formation.

Cleansing solution such as chlorhexidine

Straight- or curved-tip forceps

Tweezers

#11 scalpel

Nonsterile gloves

Ticks should be removed as soon as practical to reduce the cutaneous immune response and the likelihood of disease transmission. A tick’s mouthparts become cemented within 5 to 30 minutes of contact with the host’s skin.

Patient comfort with excellent exposure of tick

Grasp the tick's mouth parts as close to the skin as possible using a blunt forceps with medium-sized, curved tips placed parallel to the skin.

Apply gentle, steady traction to remove the tick.

Do not squeeze, crush, twist, or jerk the tick’s body. Doing so may expel infective agents.

If mouth parts are left behind, remove as much of them as possible with tweezers or the point of a scalpel blade.

Cleanse the area with soap and water or a mild antibacterial wound cleanser such as chlorhexidine.

Patients should return if any local pain, swelling, or erythema develops or if they develop systemic symptoms (eg, fever, headache, joint pains, malaise) within 4 weeks of the bite; most tick-borne illnesses except for Lyme disease Lyme Disease Lyme disease is a tick-transmitted infection caused by the spirochete Borrelia species. Early symptoms include an erythema migrans rash, which may be followed weeks to months later by... read more typically manifest earlier.

The tick may be saved for laboratory analysis to check for tick-borne disease in the geographic area where the patient acquired the tick.

Nonmechanical, traditional, and folk methods of forcing the tick to disengage (such as the use of petroleum jelly, fingernail polish, a hot match, or alcohol) are not recommended. These methods can cause the tick to regurgitate and therefore increase the likelihood of infection.

The forceps should be pulled slowly and steadily, directly away from the skin without twisting. Curved-tip forceps are best because the outer curve can be laid against the skin while the handle remains far enough from the skin to grasp easily.