April showers bring May flowers. These showers also bring this years crop of ticks. Both brown ticks and the dreaded deer ticks are hatching.
As families take to the woods for hikes and golfers take to the woods to retrieve errant balls, the pests are waiting to cling to your clothing and navigate their way to your bodies.
Once bitten by the tick, the signs and symptoms of Lyme disease vary and usually affect more than one system. The skin, joints and nervous system are affected most often.
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A small, red bump may appear at the site of the tick bite. This small bump is normal after a tick bite and doesn't indicate Lyme disease. However, over the next few days, the redness may expand forming a rash in a bull's-eye pattern, with a red outer ring surrounding a clear area. The rash, called erythema migrans, is one of the hallmarks of Lyme disease. Some people develop this rash at more than one place on their bodies.
Fever, chills, fatigue, body aches and a headache may accompany the rash.
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Only a minority of deer tick bites leads to Lyme disease. The longer the tick remains attached to your skin, the greater your risk of getting the disease. If you think you've been bitten and experience signs and symptoms of Lyme disease, arrange to get tested.
Your Physician can order a blood test or you can go directly to LabTest Select on Milledge and have your tests done without the added expense of an office visit.
Tick bites are not to be ignored. Get peace of mind and get tested.
Tom Senyitko LabTest Select 500 N. Milledge Athens and LabTestSelect.com