Simple First Aid Guide to Lyme Disease

This simple first-aid guide to Lyme disease explains how it can be contracted, signs and symptoms and immediate treatment.

What is Lyme disease?

Lyme disease is a bacterial disease that can be spread from infected ticks to humans. Lyme disease is usually easy to treat if diagnosed and treated early.

What are the symptoms of Lyme disease?

An early symptom of Lyme disease in some people is a circular or oval-shaped rash around a tick bite.

Usually, the rash appears within 1 to 4 weeks after the tick bite but the rash can take up to 3 months to appear. The rash can be present for several weeks.

The rash is not usually itchy or hot. It can have a darker or lighter area in the centre of the rash and it may gradually spread.

The rash may be either flat, or slightly raised, with an appearance of looking pink, red, or purple when it appears on white skin. The rash can be a bit harder to see on brown and black skin often looking like a bruise.

Simple first aid guide to lyme disease

Symptoms include:

Flu-like symptoms a few days or weeks after someone is bitten by an infected tick are common, these include:

• a high temperature, or feeling hot and shivery

• headaches

• pain in the muscles and joints

• tiredness

• loss of energy

Other symptoms include:

Some people who contract Lyme disease may develop more severe symptoms months or years later. This is more likely if treatment is delayed. These more severe symptoms may include:

• pain and swelling in joints

• nerve problems – such as pain or numbness

• heart problems

• trouble with memory

• trouble with concentration

What are the chances of getting Lyme disease?

It is important to note that not all ticks in England carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.

It is still important to be aware of ticks and to safely remove them as soon as possible, just in case they are infected.

Ticks that may potentially cause Lyme disease are found all over the UK, but the higher-risk places include grassy and wooded areas in southern and northern England and the Scottish Highlands.

What are ticks?

Ticks are tiny spider-like creatures that live in woods, areas with long grass, and sometimes in urban parks and gardens.

Ticks do not fly or jump, they attach to the skin of animals or humans that brush past them.

Once a tick bites into the skin, it will feed on the blood for a few days before dropping off.

Simple First Aid Guide to ticks

How to spot a tick and remove a tick safely

Tick bites are not always painful. You may not even notice a tick unless you see it on your skin. You should regularly check for ticks on your clothes and skin, and on children and pets after being outdoors.

How to safely remove a tick

Tick removal tool

1. Wear disposable gloves

2. Engage the tool by approaching the tick from the side until it is held securely

3. Carefully turn the tool clockwise or anti-clockwise- the tick should detach itself after 2 to 3 rotations

4. After removing the tick disinfect the bite and wash your hands thoroughly

Fine Tipped Tweezers

1. Wear disposable gloves

2. Use fine-tipped tweezers and gently grip the tick with the tweezers, getting as close to the skin as possible

3. Slowly pull upwards, taking care not to squeeze or crush the tick. If the head and mouth parts of the tick remain. the body will be susceptible to infection

4. Dispose of it when you have removed it.

5. Clean the bite with antiseptic or soap and water.

DO NOT ROTATE OR TURN THE TICK USING FINE-TIPPED TWEEZERS

The chance of getting ill is low. You do not need to do anything else unless you notice a rash or become unwell.

When to see a GP

• you've been bitten by a tick or visited an area in the past 3 months where infected ticks could be

and have

• flu-like symptoms – such as feeling hot and shivery, headaches, aching muscles, or feeling sick, or

• a round or oval-shaped rash

Inform the GP if you have recently been in forests or grassy areas.

What treatment is available from your GP

If a GP thinks you might have Lyme disease, they'll prescribe a course of antibiotics. The antibiotics you're given are dependent on your symptoms, but you may need to take them for up to 28 days. It's important to finish the course, even if you do start to feel better.

Some people with severe symptoms will be referred to a specialist in a hospital so antibiotics can be given directly into a vein.

Most people with Lyme disease get better after antibiotic treatment. This can take months for some people, but the symptoms should improve over time.

People with symptoms of Lyme disease that last a long time after treatment may be referred to a specialist in the hospital for advice and more blood tests.

Ongoing symptoms of Lyme disease

A few people who are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease continue to have symptoms, like tiredness, aches, and a loss of energy, that can last for years.

It is not clear why this happens to some people and not others. This means there is no agreed treatment.

Always speak to a doctor if your symptoms come back, or do not improve, after treatment with antibiotics.

Dynamo Training Solutions Simple First Aid Guide to

Simple first aid guide to Lyme Disease is one of a series of Simple Guides to produced by Dynamo Training Solutions. Dynamo Training Solutions provides training throughout London, Kent, and the South East.