We found a tick; now what?

Don't panic. Many of us have been there, and it feels scary with all the conflicting information contained in the interwebs. Let's begin with this checklist:

1. Was it embedded on you or crawling?
2. Was it engorged?
3. Were you able to remove it in one piece?
4. There are controversies on how to remove it; I've posted a video to the right via the Lyme Disease Association, Inc.  (I prefer to use a little tick removal tool that looks like a garden hoe with a V shape cut into it, which I bought at my local feed store.)  

Next, I would call my doctor. Perhaps he or she will want to see you and the tick in question. If it is identified as a black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis), your physician may suggest a course of antibiotics as a precautionary measure to help prevent Lyme disease, or at least nip it in the bud.

We also discussed sending off the tick to a laboratory for testing. Labs can identify the type of tick, what stage of growth it is in, whether it is male and female, and--for a fee--even report on whether it had any of the numerous tick-borne diseases, including Lyme. Links to a few New England-area labs are to the right.

Tick Report, UMASS Amherst

Bebop Labs, Ashland, NH

Tick Lab, U of Maine (Maine Residents)

NOTE: At the time of this posting (May 5, 2019), Costs for TickReport = $50 (it also offers an app with a FREE tick identification feature); for Bebop Labs = $35 (information on the downloadable .pdf), and for Tick Lab at U Maine = $15 (only available to Maine residents). If you have a favorite tick identification lab, feel free to contact me so I can add it to the list. Thank you!