Staying Away From Ticks

Previously we covered a little about ticks, one of nature's most unpleasant creatures. So unpleasant that we’ll want to avoid them as studiously as we can. How can we do that? For one we can avoid woody areas. Certain areas are known for ticks. Different areas are known for different types of infectious agents. Up on the mountain here near me there is a road called “Scratch Ankle” road. That’s because there are so many chiggers in that area that for whatever reason you can’t walk around in the grass there without getting chiggers. Why the chiggers like that particular grass on that particular spot on the mountain I don’t know.

Ticks are the same way. They love some areas and inhabit some areas more than others. If you’re going hiking in a national forest or state park, the forestry departments will actually know which areas are more likely to have ticks on them. First thing you can do is avoid those areas. The second thing is just physical protection: long pants, long sleeved shirts. I’d even recommend blousing your pants: tucking your pants legs down into the top of your boots and putting your shirt inside your pants so that they can’t crawl up under the pants or shirt. That way they all wind up at your neck as they crawl on up. It is definitely easier to inspect your neck than the groin or other areas.

One very common way to prevent ticks from latching on are chemicals. Deet is probably the most famous one. Then there is permethrin. Those are probably the two commonly used ones that you see in repellants for ticks. Deet being a repellant and permethrin being an insecticide. There’s a huge difference between the two. Deet in higher concentrations is quite effective at preventing tick bites, but it does need to be a higher percentage, probably 30-40%. Permethrin is an insecticide and that is a whole different animal.

Let’s flip back to deet just a minute. Deet is not highly toxic. There are a handful of deaths the last few years from deet and it was usually by people trying to commit suicide by drinking it. There’s virtually no known deaths. I think there was a child or two who died when their mother used deet on them 2-3 times a day for a period of a couple of months. I know that’s hard to fathom, but that sort of thing does happen. Don’t spray yourself down with it for weeks on end repeatedly, and certainly not children. Deet is heavily used in the military. You might occasionally see someone with a little rash or headache or drowsiness which might be associated with that but it’s certainly not a neurotoxin. It doesn’t damage the liver, kidneys or anything else. So if you’re going to pick one of these two it would be deet, as far as the chemicals.

Permethrin is a whole different animal. It’s an insecticide. It’s a neurotoxin. It’s a skin irritant. It decreases your immune system T-cell activity, K-cell activity, and lymphocyte activity. It is a very problematic chemical. It is not just found in bug sprays; it's also used as a pesticide on a lot of vegetables. That’s a good reason to wash your vegetables in hydrogen peroxide or other types of cleansing solution when you bring them into the house. Permethrin is known to cause cancer and damages liver, adrenals, kidneys even at minimal levels. Children seem much more susceptible than adults. To emphasize: if you’ve got to choose between permethrin and deet, it would certainly be deet.

Permethrin is nowhere directed to be put directly on the skin. On the other hand, deet can be sprayed on the skin and is OK’d by the FDA for that. Permethrin is strictly recommended for clothing if you are going to use it at all. Personally, if I get close to it I get neurotoxicity within hours. My ears start ringing and I have some other problems.

There are some quasi natural things which have been approved lately by the FDA for repelling ticks. Picaridin is a modified natural agent which appears to be quite effective at killing ticks also. If you’re wanting to go natural (which I would highly recommend) I’ve used natural oils for years with great success. Probably the most important one is the oil of lemon eucalyptus. That will repel ticks with a high degree of probability. Citronella is another one that is used. Soy bean oil is used and peppermint. These are oils because it is oil that seems to repel the ticks as well as keep them from biting. Essential oils, especially oil of lemon eucalyptus is important.

Next time I'll dive into Lyme disease.