Avoiding Tick Bites & How to Check for Ticks

By Dr. Mohamed Hasham

Be prepared for New Jersey tick season with tick prevention tips

Ticks are small arachnids related to spiders and mites living in trees, shrubs, grass and other plant life. They are nuisances to animals and people, which they attach to in order to feed on their blood. Ticks catch bacteria from small animals and can pass those bacteria on to humans with a bite.

This article, which has some information specific to New Jersey, will tell you how to prevent tick bites that can lead to infectious disease and how to check for ticks. Anyone who enjoys the outdoors or has household pets that go outside is subject to tick bites.

Types of ticks and potential diseases

Most people are familiar with ticks on their pets, and the American dog tick is one of the three most common ticks in New Jersey. The other two are deer ticks (also called black-legged ticks) and the lone star tick.

Tick bites can spread bacteria that results in tick-borne infectious diseases. For example, the deer tick is well known for causing Lyme disease, which we discuss on our webpage about Lyme disease and treatment.

But there are several other diseases that occur from tick bites. ID Care’s experts can identify and treat tick-borne disease including:

• Babesiosis.
• Ehrlichiosis.
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
• Tularemia.
• Colorado tick fever.
• Powassan encephalitis.
• Q fever.

New Jersey tick season means more tick bites

Tick season in New Jersey is spring and summer (April-September). The peak season is May and June, with May designated as Tick Awareness Month in New Jersey. Ticks usually prefer warmer and wetter climates.

Climate affects both when ticks are actively seeking food sources and when those sources, such as people, are outside. A recent study presented at ID Week 2024 shows that in general, tick-borne diseases in New Jersey are increasing and tick season is expanding.

My advice is to be diligent about ticks anytime you are outside; this is especially true for hunters and those in woodsy environments. Of course, your vigilance should increase in tick season, particularly May & June.

Tick prevention for your home & pets

The first step, even for those who aren’t outside very often, begins at your home. You can help protect your home from ticks with these actions:

• Clear tall grass and brush around your home and at the edge of the lawn.
• Remove leaf piles and litter.
• Create a 3-foot barrier of gravel or mulch between lawns and wooded areas.
• Discourage tick-bearing animals such as raccoons, deer and dogs from your yard.
• Decks, patios and playground equipment should not be close to trees or the edge of your yard.

Preventing ticks on pets

Dogs and cats that go outside come in contact with ticks. They can get a disease from ticks and can bring them into your home, resulting in tick bites and tick-borne diseases for the people living there. The following are our suggested tick prevention steps for pets.

• Use tick prevention products for dogs; check with your vet before use.
• Check pets daily for ticks, especially in peak seasons and after they go outside.
• Use this guide from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for checking pets.
• If you find a tick on your pet, remove it immediately (see how to remove a tick below).

How to avoid tick bites

The best way to avoid tick bites is to avoid ticks from getting on you. The landscaping advice above can help keep your home safer, but when you venture beyond your home, you need to take other precautions.

Where do ticks live?

The first precaution is to know where the ticks are likely to be. That’s in grassy, wooded and bushy areas outdoors – and on animals, whether pets or wild. Avoid such areas and animals if possible.

Spending time outdoors camping, hunting, hiking and gardening puts you in the same environment as ticks. So does walking your dog in the neighborhood.

Actions to avoid tick bites

The following actions can help you and your family members avoid tick bites when outside.

• Walk in the center of trails when possible.
• If you have long hair, pull it back or wear a hat.
• Wear long-sleeve shirts and long pants, as well as closed shoes.
• Tuck pant legs into shoes or socks.
• Light colored clothing can help you spot ticks before they get to your skin.
• The CDC advises using insect repellents with DEET, picaridin, IR3535, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus, para-menthane-diol, or 2-undecanone.
• You can also treat camping gear, boots and clothing with products that have 0.5% permethrin to repel ticks.

How to check for ticks & tick bites

If you follow all the prevention guidelines above, you greatly reduce your chance of a tick being on you. But you could still come home from a trip outdoors with one of these unwanted guests. So, it’s important to know how to check yourself and your family members.

Check your clothing for ticks first

• Check your clothing for ticks, ideally before going inside your home.
• You can put clothes in the dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks (longer for damp clothes).
• Washing your clothes in hot water then drying will also kill ticks.
• Examine any gear you took with you such as a backpack.
• Check your pets that went out with you.

How to check for ticks on your body

Within about two hours of being outside, take a shower, which can wash ticks off before they attach to you. Always wash your children with soap and water when they come back indoors.

After cleaning yourself or your child, you’ll want to check your bodies. Use a mirror to help check yourself. The prime areas to check are:

• Behind the knees.
• Between the legs.
• At the waist where clothing can be open.
• In the belly button.
• Under the arms.
• In and around the ears and hair.

And if you find a tick, remove it.

How to remove ticks

Don’t follow folklore tips such as applying heat to the tick or painting it with nail polish or petroleum jelly. And don’t crush it with your fingers. The objective is to remove it quickly in this fashion:

• Use tweezers to grip the tick as close to the skin where it is attached as possible.
• Pull upward with even pressure.
• If the tick breaks and the mouth stays in the skin, use tweezers to remove those pieces; and if that doesn’t work, just let the skin heal.

Clean the area with soap and water or alcohol; same for your hands. Put a live tick in alcohol to kill it, then you can wrap it in plastic and throw it away. You can also flush it down the toilet.

When to seek medical help

If you see one of the following signs that can indicate a tick-borne disease within a few weeks after tick removal, see an ID Care specialist or other doctor.

• Rash.
• Fever.
• A red or bruise-like spot near the bite.
• Nausea.
• Fatigue.
• Neck stiffness.
• Muscle or joint pain.
• Swollen lymph nodes.
• Tingling or numbness in the hands and feet.

If you need further help with tick removal or when to see a doctor following a tick bite, you can access the CDC’s Tick Bite Bot interactive tool. This can be a helpful tool, but it is not a substitute for seeking medical care.