Yes, tick bites are usually painless. That means you can be bitten and infected without ever feeling a thing.
It’s not a fun fact, but it’s true. You can catch Lyme disease without a single clue you were ever bitten. Silent transmission is a serious issue and it’s the number one reason why Lyme disease cases go missed in their early, highly treatable phases.
Tick saliva contains a numbing agent, and other compounds in it thin the blood and keep your immune system from reacting. So the ticks can feed for days, unbothered.
Tick nymphs are even worse. In fact, the nymphs are what cause the most Lyme disease transmission. They’re about the size of a poppy seed which means they are incredibly hard to spot.
Lyme disease transmission generally takes a day or more of attachment, so finding and removing a tick promptly really lowers your risk. But that’s not going to happen unless you’re actively looking for ticks. Pain won’t alert you.
It helps to look for rashes, but you can’t even rely on that. Lyme disease is associated with the classic bullseye rash, but it’s not required. Even when it does appear, the rash could wind up somewhere you can’t easily see, like the scalp or back. So a bite, a twinge of pain, and a rash are all unreliable as warnings.
This is why tick checks are one of the best things you can do. After time outside where ticks spend time, look at your scalp, behind your ears, underarms, waistband, and behind your knees. These are all places where ticks like to attach. If you find any, keep an eye out for fever or flu-like illness in the days and weeks to follow.
If you want to reduce your odds of running into ticks, Mosquito Squad of Greater Lansing can help. Mosquito Squad treats the places where ticks wait. This can help you to protect your family with up to 90% reduction in pest activity on a recurring 21-day cycle.
