Removing a tick promptly and properly reduces your risk of infection. Follow these steps:

✅ Tick Removal Instructions:

• Use clean, fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick’s head as close to your skin as possible.

• Pull slowly and steadily upward. Avoid twisting or squeezing.

• If the mouthparts break off, try to remove them with tweezers. If difficult, leave them and let the skin heal naturally.

• Clean the bite area with soap and water or an alcohol-based sanitizer.

🚫 Do Not Remove a Tick Using:

• Burning

• Smothering with:

  • Nail polish

  • Essential oils

  • Petroleum jelly

  • Nail polish remover
    These methods can cause the tick to expel infectious contents into your skin, increasing your risk of illness.

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🧑‍⚕️ Seek Medical Help If:

• You're uncomfortable removing the tick

• The tick is deeply embedded

• You feel unwell or show symptoms of:

  • Lyme disease

  • Babesiosis

  • Anaplasmosis

  • Powassan virus disease

Your provider may ask:

• Where and when you were bitten

• How long the tick was attached

• What part of your body was affected

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📷 What to Do With the Tick:

• Take a photo and submit it to eTick.ca to identify the tick species and help track its spread in Canada.

• If bringing it to your doctor:

  • Place the tick in a sealed bag or pill bottle.

  • Record the date, body location of the bite, and where it happened.

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🗑️ How to Kill and Dispose of a Tick:

• Kill the tick by:

  • Submerging it in rubbing alcohol

  • Freezing it for several days
    Avoid crushing it with bare fingers to prevent infection.

Once dead, dispose of the tick in household garbage.

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🧪 Tick Testing:

Some public health units test ticks to monitor tick-borne threats, including bacteria and viruses. However, tick testing is not used to diagnose illness. Diagnosis is based on:

• Travel history

• Symptoms

• Possible tick exposure

• Lab testing if needed

Check with your local health authority for available tick testing programs.