How Common Lyme Disease from Ticks and What Is the Treatment?

If you live in the southwest and southern Michigan areas, then you know that the weather is beginning to warm up outside. As a result, you are probably planning on spending more time outdoors. You need to be very careful that you do not get bitten by a tick, that they can carry some deadly diseases. One example is Lyme disease.

While getting Lyme disease from ticks is not that common, as not all ticks carry Lyme disease, and they need to stay attached to you for several hours before transmitting the infection, this disease can still be serious.

If you get diagnosed with Lyme disease, what are the treatment options? Make sure you check yourself for ticks when you come in from the outdoors. Then, rely on a professional exterminator to keep ticks away from your home or office.

How Do Doctors Diagnose Lyme Disease?

The first step in treating Lyme disease is arriving at an accurate diagnosis. When you show up at the doctor's office, he or she is going to ask you a series of questions to learn more about your symptoms. For example, if you have spent a lot of time outside, have developed a rash, and have high, spiked fevers, Lyme disease is probably going to be on the differential diagnosis.

In order to confirm this condition, the doctor is going to run a series of tests. For example, the doctor may draw some blood work for either a western blot test or an ELISA test. These are tests that are run by specific medical laboratories to look for Lyme disease. If the test comes back positive, you will be diagnosed with Lyme disease, and the treatment process will begin.

What Is the Treatment Process?

If you are diagnosed with Lyme disease, the first-line treatment option is antibiotics. The sooner this treatment process is started, the better the prognosis is going to be. If your symptoms are relatively mild, your doctor may prescribe you a course of oral antibiotics. In individuals who are over eight years of age, the main antibiotic is doxycycline. In children who are under the age of eight, or in women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, the typical choice is amoxicillin or cefuroxime.

If symptoms are severe, the doctor may prefer a course of intravenous antibiotics. This is more effective in eradicating Lyme disease quickly; however, it may still take you a while to recover from your symptoms. It usually takes a few weeks for the antibiotics to completely clear the infection, regardless of the route they are administered. The doctor will review all possible side effects of these antibiotics with you before the treatment begins. Without antibiotics, Lyme disease could produce serious complications, some of which could be life-threatening.

Trust Mosquito Squad of Southwest and South Central Michigan for Tick Prevention and Removal Services

If you want to protect your friends, family members, co-workers, and pets from ticks in the local area, you need to rely on a professional exterminator. That is where we can help you. We are Mosquito Squad of Southwest and South Central Michigan, and we are a local mosquito control company that specializes in removing mosquitoes and ticks from your area. We use natural mosquito control services to remove mosquitoes and ticks. It would be our pleasure to assist you as well. If you would like to learn more about how we can help you get rid of ticks that could be in your local area, give us a call today at (269) 340-3580! We look forward to helping you.