Many people have never been bitten by a tick. But if you do get bitten, would you know how to remove a tick? Read on to find out how to remove a tick and learn more about ticks in general, probably more than you want to know.

Ticks have increasingly become more of a problem for both animals and people. Ticks are external parasites and feed on blood by attaching themselves to hosts such as people, pets or livestock. While not all ticks do, many carry diseases and spread them to their host, such as Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and other Tickborne Rickettsial Diseases (TBRDs). Ticks can also transmit other human and animal diseases, viruses and bacteria.

There are about 80 species of ticks in the U.S. and approximately 865 species of ticks worldwide. Prevention is probably the most important thing, but if you do get bitten and find a tick attached to your skin, do not panic. Not every tick is infected and carrying disease.

If you stay calm, take your time and properly remove the tick, your chance of getting a disease from the tick is significantly reduced. If however, you do come down with symptoms similar to the flu during the several weeks after the tick bite, please go and see your doctor. Read on to learn how to remove a tick, what to avoid and how to prevent a tick attachment. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/resources/handbook.pdf

When you return from a trip or outing where ticks may have been, it is important to check your entire body for tick attachments. They like to make their way to the scalp, armpits, groin or ankle area. If you do find a tick attached to your body or someone with you, do not panic. Follow these steps to properly remove the tick in whole. Most ticks do not carry disease, but it is still important to remove the tick properly and as soon as possible.

1. Use a tick extractor tool with notches, or tweezers with a fine tip. Do not touch the tick with your hands or fingers.
2. You will want to grasp the tick as close to the head and mouth as possible. The tick's head and mouth will buried in the skin and feeding on blood. The rest of its body will be sticking out of your skin. Be careful to not grab the tick at its belly because if you squeeze it, infected fluid from the tick may push into your body. Once you have grasped the tick as close to your skin as you can, next pull upward with a steady even motion and pressure. Do not jerk, twist or turn the tick as you pull. If you do, you increase the risk of separating the tick into two pieces, which would leave the head buried in the skin. If this does happen you still need to remove the head and mouth with the tweezers.
3. Upon removing the tick, clean the area of the bite and disinfect thoroughly as well as wash your hands with soap and water.
4. It is important not to crush or squeeze the tick after removal because disease or infected fluids could still be transferred to your skin while you are handling the tick.
5. Place the tick in a zip lock bag and put it in the freezer for later identification, should it be needed due to illness.

Some ticks are so small it makes it difficult to know if you have effectively removed the tick's head and all of the body parts. If you can not completely remove a tick, call your doctor for help. http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/tick_removal.htmlhttp://firstaid.webmd.com/tc/how-to-remove-a-tick-overview

When removing a tick from your skin there are a few things to avoid. Do not try to burn the tick or try to drown it with rubbing alcohol, gasoline or petroleum jelly. Trying to drown or burn the tick may cause it to release infected fluid into your body which will increase the likelihood of you getting sick or getting an infection. You should avoid these methods of tick removal as they can make things worse. Follow the above set of instructions for the proper way of removing a tick. If you can not remove the tick completely, immediately call your doctor. http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/tick_removal.html http://firstaid.webmd.com/tc/how-to-remove-a-tick-overview

It is important to know how to remove a tick, but is also important to prevent tick attachments in the first place. One of the ways to do this is to limit or minimize the amount of time you stay in tick infested areas. Ticks like to live in the woods and grassy areas. Limiting the amount of time you spend in these areas will reduce the likelihood of a tick attachment. When you are exposed or spending time in natural tick areas, you can take the following steps to protect yourself.

1. Try to wear light colored clothes, so if ticks do get on your body you will have a better chance of seeing them on your clothing before they can make their way to your skin.
2. Use and apply tick repellants to your clothing and skin to repel the ticks and minimize risk of attachment.
3. Upon your return from natural or potential tick infestation areas, it is necessary to do a full body check to search for ticks. Check from your scalp down to your toes. If you do find any ticks, remove per the above directions.

When children come back from playing or spending time in these areas, it is important to thoroughly check them as well. Check their clothing as well as their body. Ticks can hitchhike into the household riding on the kids clothes. http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/prevention.html