The first line of defense is wearing the proper clothing: boots, pants, tights, long shelve shirts.
The second line of defense is using insect repellent. Check out my blog post & you tube video on making a herbal bug repellent oil: Adirondack Bug Repellent Oil. I first developed this oil recipe to ward off black flies which it does, with the additional of a powerful essential oil: Lemon Eucalyptus, it works to deter ticks. The irony is that when I used to suggest to people that they need to smear this oil on their exposed body parts it was not a thing they were willing to do unless they were a dedicated outdoors person. Now people are very willing to use the oil as a line of defense from ticks bites. Ticks have made their way up into the North country unfortunately.
Some people are using this plant based spray on their gardening clothes which they just keep for gardening. A friend sprays her dog’s vest with it and seems to help with the ticks.
If you get bit, first remove the tick. I have know people to wait for the doctor to remove the tick. Use a v shaped spoon tick remover. Tweezers are hard to use for some people. There’s is all kinds of advise about what to use out there. Seems that the spoon tool works the best. Carry one in your car and first aid kit.
Treat your tick bites. I use a herbal liniment combined with clay to draw out the toxins that ticks and black flies seem to leave behind. I like French Green Clay but any clay will do. I leave the drawing poultice on for several days to make sure that I got everything. I have had to redo this poultice on old tick bites that started to bother me again. I have the Bug bite Be Gone Liniment recipe on a blog post and a you tube video.
Most people go to the doctors to get antibiotics to ensure that they do not have any complications. Herbally you can use two different herbs for protection before you get to the doctors office for antibiotics. The herbs are Sweet Annie (Artemisia annua) and Cat’s claw ( Uncaria tomentosa). Both plants are very strong anti microbials which means they work as an anti viral, anti bacteria, and anti fungal. Sweet Annie grows locally. Check out my blog post on growing and using Sweet Annie herbal preparation. Cat’s claw comes from South American and has a very long history of use. I use Sweet Annie in a tincture preparation and Cat’s Claw in a powdered form in a capsule just because that’s what I have. Cat’s claw is available in both preparations.
I sell a Tick Kit with the oil, liniment and clay. It can be purchased at Saunders Galley on Bay Street.
More tick information that might be of interest: Tick tubes
