Lyme disease: what is the best way to remove a tick?

With summer and walks in the fields or in the forest, it's time to be vigilant against ticks . These cling to the skin and can transmit Lyme disease if they are infected by the Borrelia bacterium . If the best is still to protect yourself to avoid being bitten (by wearing covering clothes and using repellent), it sometimes happens that these little animals cling anyway. When this is the case, it is important to remove it as soon as possible.

For this, two methods compete: the American and the French. In France, it is recommended by the Health Insurance to obtain a tick-tick in a pharmacy or to use a thin tweezers. With the tool, it is necessary to catch the tick close to the skin without pressing on the abdomen (which contains the microbes likely to contaminate the person touched) and to shoot gently but firmly, making a slight circular motion . In this way, there is no risk of breaking the mouthpiece, which would remain stuck in the skin. Conversely, the UFC-Que Choisir reports that in the United States, the recommendations are not the same. On the other side of the Atlantic, it is recommended not to turn the insect : "To understand this discrepancy, it should be known that the American health authorities advise to use in priority, for the withdrawal of the The tick is a very fine pair of pliers, but once the tick is pinched close to the skin, turning the instrument and at the same time maintaining enough pressure to keep the tick stuck is not easy ". In case of relaxation, there is a risk of breaking the insect up.

Remove a tick: what is the best method?

Denis Hetiz General Manager of O'tom, a manufacturer of tick-ticks, explains to the magazine that the French recommendations are thus for a good reason: "The rotational movement decreases the fixing capacity of the small spines of the rostrum, and therefore decreases the resistance to withdrawal" . However, the American method is not necessarily less good, because the most important is to adapt his gesture to the instrument we have in our possession : "Which one turns or draw, if the tick is completely extracted from the skin, all is well.The main thing is not to squeeze the abdomen of the tick at the time of withdrawal, as this increases the risk of transmission. of pathogens " explains the UFC-Que Choisir. Another important thing, should not be used with beveled forceps which increases the risk of pressing or slicing the abdomen and thus freeing microbes.

A National Center Pharmacist Reference (CNR) Borrelia from Strasbourg reports that there is no danger if only the stinging parts of the insect remain. "The salivary glands that contain microbes are located in the belly" explains Nathalie Boulanger . She then advises either to go see a doctor who will remove the pieces of tick remained fixed to the skin, or to wait until they dry and fall of themselves.