The reason you have to be careful with tick bites (!) is that they are the cause of Lyme disease. A serious disease you do not want to get!
The number of people infected with Lyme disease increases every year in Quebec and in North America. The complications of Lyme disease are very serious: localized redness, fever,tiredness, headaches, neck stiffness, muscle and joint pain.
In Quebec, it is mainly the black legged tick or the deer tick that is found in our woods and forests.
If the tick remains on the skin for more than 24 hours, there is a risk of developing Lyme disease while a contact of less than 24 hours is considered less risky.
The tick feeds on animals or humans blood.Before feeding, its size is between 1 and 3 millimeters, but the tick triple its volume when it is filled with blood! To remove it, use a tweezers, which is neither easy nor pleasant! [pub]
The best thing to do is to protect yourself from tick bites with a repellent and very covering clothes. When you come back from a walk in the forest or in a wooded area check your body
To remove ticks, you can use DEET, but many people do not like this really toxic chemical product, the most effective alternative is to use essential oils because ticks and other insects doesn't like the smell.
Lavender oil smells good, but ticks and lice do not like it.
Mint Pouliot oil is toxic to insects and they prefer to move away when they smell it.
Lemongrass or lemon oil is is a very good mosquito repellent, but it is also very effective against ticks.
Eucalyptus oil helps to keep insects away and sooth insect bites and itching.
Put essential oils on your clothes, in your hair or directly onto the skin, only few drops are necessary to spread a strong smell to keep insects away