7 Helpful Tips to Avoid Lime Disease

Some helpful tips to prevent tick bites that bring Lyme disease are: keep your home tick-free, regularly check your pets for signs of ticks, avoid areas that are likely to be infested by ticks, wear protective clothes, spray tick repellents, keep deer away, and contact your local pest control.

Lime disease is a bacterial illness very common in the Northern Hemisphere. Humans are infected by Lyme disease when they are bitten by infected ticks or deer ticks. Patients commonly suffer symptoms like fever, fatigue, headaches and circular rashes in the infected area. When left untreated, symptoms may aggravate and become more difficult to cure. Here are some tips to help prevent lime disease from infecting you or your home.

Keep your home tick-free

It is important to remember that ticks thrive in humid, grassy and wooded locations. If you have a garden or lawn, keep it tick-free by having the grass regularly mowed and dispose of leaf piles frequently. It is good to keep your home and garden dry and sunny, as these conditions are not conducive yo the survival of ticks.

Regularly check your pets for signs of ticks

Ticks are very common to animals, so it is important that you monitor your pets for any sign of deer ticks in their hair or fur. Although dog ticks are not associated with Lyme disease, ticks are pests and must be immediately destroyed. If you notice any signs of illness in your pets, contact a veterinarian.

Avoid areas that are likely to be infested with ticks

Deer ticks are common in wooded areas and places that are overgrown with grass. It is better to avoid walking or standing in these areas.

Wear protective clothes

If you must go into wooded and bushy areas, wear long sleeves, pants and socks. Tuck your pants into your socks. As much as possible, avoid exposing any part of your skin when roaming through infested areas. It is also better to wear clothing that ia light in color so  you can easily find ticks that might have gotten stuck on your clothing. Remember that these ticks might pass off as specks of dirt on your clothes.

Spray tick repellents

DEET is yellowish oil commonly used as an active ingredient in repellents. It is best to use insect repellents containing 20-30% DEET in its mixture. Spray your clothing and all exposed parts of the skin with the tick repellent.

Keep deer away

Deer might be attracted to come near your home if you have a garden and tend plants outside the house. It is good to note that starving and hungry deer will settle for eating almost anything, and you should keep these these things away to prevent them from bringing ticks into your vicinity. You can set up fences around your lot or invest in deer repellents, noisemakers and other tools designed to keep deer away. You can also plant deer-resistant plants like the English lavender and most varieties of asters. Avoid substances or plants that are known to attract deer.

Contact your local pest control

Pest control agencies might have bait boxes that draw in and kill ticks. You can ask for these and items to further prevent tick infestation.

Prevention is always better than cure. It is best to keep yourself protected and aware of the precautions against ticks and tick bites.