If you’re walking your dog or just hiking through the woods, it’s very easy to come home with an uninvited guest: a tick.

While it is most common that dogs get bitten by ticks, it is still possible for humans to be affected by them too. If you find that your dog has been bitten by a tick then check out this article on How To Get a Tick Off a Dog as soon as possible. You need to get the tick off quick. The same goes for you too, should you find yourself bitten by one.

And you don’t want that to happen, because Lyme Disease and other illnesses are possible outcomes.

If you live in or visit wooded areas or areas with tall grass and weeds, follow these precautions to help prevent tick bites and decrease the risk of disease:

How to Avoid Tick Bites

• Avoid wooded and bushy areas with high grass and leaf litter.
• Walk in the center of trails.
• Wear protective clothing such as long-sleeved shirts, long trousers, boots or sturdy shoes and a head covering. (Ticks are easier to detect on light-colored clothing.) Tuck trouser cuffs in socks. Tape the area where pants and socks meet so ticks cannot crawl under clothing.
• Apply insect repellent containing 10 percent to 30 percent DEET primarily to clothes. Apply sparingly to exposed skin. Do not spray directly to the face; spray the repellent onto hands and then apply to face. Avoid sensitive areas like the eyes, mouth and nasal membranes. Be sure to wash treated skin after coming indoors.
• Use repellents containing permethrin to treat clothes (especially pants, socks and shoes) but not skin.
• Conduct a full-body tick check using a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body upon return from tick-infested areas. Parents should check their children for ticks under the arms, in and around the ears, inside the belly button, behind the knees, between the legs, around the waist, and especially in their hair.
• Examine gear and pets. Ticks can ride into the home on clothing and pets and attach to a person later. Tumble clothes in a dryer on high heat for an hour to kill remaining ticks.
• If ticks are crawling on the outside of clothes, they can be removed with masking tape or cellophane tape. A ring of tape can be made around the hand by leaving the sticky side out and attaching the two ends. Ticks will stick to the tape which can then be folded over and then placed in the trash.

SOURCE: Kane County Health Department

How to Remove a Tick

1. Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don’t twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible.How to remove a tick
2. After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.
3. Dispose of a live tick by submersing it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet. Never crush a tick with your fingers.

Avoid folklore remedies such as “painting” the tick with nail polish or petroleum jelly, or using heat to make the tick detach from the skin. Your goal is to remove the tick as quickly as possible–not waiting for it to detach.SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention