KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -
If anyone has spent some time outdoors or likes to camp, there probably has come a time or two they felt like something was crawling on them.
Then they find a tick.
Bug sprays often can prevent ticks from making a home on the skin this spring, and during the summer one should be extra careful.
There are plenty of reasons to wear bug spray if out having fun at area parks.
In tall grass and trees above, there is plenty of room for tiny, hungry ticks, and this season one may have noticed an increase in more ticks than in the past.
One will find ticks crawling on shrubs or in the grass, sometimes on the trees. And as children make their way outside, one should spend time with them checking for the blood-sucking critters.
Dr. Jared Marx, a physician with the University of Kansas Hospital, says it is important to be quick when finding a tick crawling on the body.
"Once they identify a tick they should get some fine tweezers, finest point they can, and go as close as they can to the skin and remove the tick as soon as possible," Dr. Jared Marx said.
Marx says don't believe the old wives' tales of painting over the tick or any other tales out there. The longer they are present, the more likely you are to have an illness from them.
"If you start seeing a rash around a tick bite, even if the tick has been removed, then you'd want to see a doctor or the ER. And if you start developing other symptoms - flu-like symptoms, headaches, fevers - then you'd definitely want to go get in to see a doctor," Marx said.
And one should be cautious if they and their pet spends a lot of time outdoors.
The lack of a cold winter could be to blame for the overabundance of the tiny critters, because they hide in grass, on blankets and even in clothes.
And on animals, they quickly latch on to their fur and quickly make themselves at home.
Local veterinarian Dr. Wayne Hunthausen says keep the yard trimmed and keep the grass trimmed to keep the tick population down around the home and one's pet.
"Keep the shrubs trimmed down so that there are less places for them to live. And then for the pets, there are topical [treatments] that are very effective. They are very safe. Apply this ointment that contains an insecticide along the back of the pet, and is very safe," said Hunthausen, with the Westwood Animal Hospital.
Hunthausen says if anyone should find a tick on their pet to use some small tweezers and pull the tick out completely without squeezing it's head. The toxins that could infect the animal make their home in the head of the critter.
He also said that a good habit to get into is to check the animal every time they come in from an extended time being outdoors. You can often prevent ticks by being proactive.
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