How to protect yourself from tick bites?

The best protection against tick bites is proper clothing, repellents, and tick control in garden areas. 

When visiting woodlands, it is necessary to observe individual prevention measures:

• Avoid visiting tick habitats (woodlands with tall grass and shrubs), especially in May and July. When hiking, you should keep to the trails, but do not go on trails with thickets, bushes and tall grass.
• When visiting places where there may be ticks, it is better to wear closed shoes (boots, boots, sneakers).
• Before going to the forest, try to protect your body from the tick attack, especially your neck, arms, and legs. The hair should be hidden under the headdress. To make it easier to spot ticks, it is preferable to wear light-colored clothing that protects the skin from contact with the tick as much as possible. Button up your sleeves, tuck your pants into your socks or shoes. Trousers are best worn long, with puffs on the legs, or you can tuck the legs into the socks so that the tick can not crawl under the pants. The jacket should have puffs on the sleeves. There are special suits made of thick fabric and equipped with puffs that reliably protect against ticks (especially if repellents are used correctly).
• In pharmacies and hardware stores, you can usually buy various repellents that repel insects (mosquitoes, midges, horseflies) and ticks. They are applied to the skin and washed off after visiting the forest. The time of protection, the method of use and contraindications are indicated on the package.
• To protect against ticks, clothing is treated with preparations containing acaricides (substances that kill ticks). Such drugs protect against ticks for a week or more. After contact with clothing treated with an anti-tick drug, the tick dies within a few minutes. Usually, such drugs can not be applied to the skin. Use anti-tick repellents according to the instructions for use.
• In the forest, every two hours, examine yourself and your children, especially the areas of the thinnest skin where the tick prefers to stick. The tick takes a long time to find a place to bite, so regularly inspect your clothes and body. The size of the tick that has not been fed with blood is 1 - 3 mm, and the size of the tick that has not been fed with blood is up to 1 cm.
• After returning from the forest or park, take off your clothes, look at them well - the tick may be in the folds and seams. Carefully examine the entire body and take a shower. Clothes are recommended to be washed in hot water.
• Inspect your pets after walking, do not let them lie down on the bed. Ticks can be brought home by dogs, cats, and any other animals.
• If a clinging tick is detected, it should be removed immediately.

Lipetsk Regional Center for Medical Prevention reminds you!
If you are bitten by a tick, do not self-medicate! Contact a medical institution where you will receive qualified assistance!

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Ticks