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Comment by baxtr | Hacker News Reader

I recommend to have one of these on you at all times while you're hiking

https://www.amazon.com/Life-Systems-34020-Lifesystem-Remover...

I got bit by a few ticks and we would always light a match, blow it out, and apply the still hot match to the visible back end of the tick. Scares the little bugger and they pop right out.

Unfortunately the way they pop out is, IIRC from Boy Scouts, at least in part, vomiting. So I was always taught to never induce them out because you'll still risk infection from the excreted stuff.

I soak them with 100 proof whiskey. They loosen up and it's also a disinfectant.

I've tried similar tools, and found fine point tweezers are the best. Some of these buggers get so dug in, they don't fit well between the sharp edges.

> Credit card sized

...

> $11.98 shipping

is it wrapped in silk and gold leaf?.

They tape it to a brick, then ship it

Here's one on Prime:

https://www.amazon.com/Tickminator-Removal-Remover-Prevent-D...

Wow, you would think with all that white (well, transparent anyway) space on that card, they'd print the directions directly onto it. As it is, they're only printed on the packaging, and they really aren't straightforward enough for a person unfamiliar with the card to pick it up and use it properly the first time. Shame.

As someone from the south, tools sold for the removal of ticks just makes me giggle.

Just use your fingernail, scratch it off carefully. I can't imagine trying to use this or one of the crazier, "heat a needle" or "spread vasaline on them methods" when trying to remove the sometimes hundreds of ticks and chiggars you might have after working in the wrong field for a day.

Doing it without a tool risks leaving the mouthparts embedded in your skin, leaving you prone to infection even after the tick was removed.

As someone who lived in the south and worked with people who specialized in tickborne illness, none of them recommended the fingernail approach.

Most "tools" are just a specialized set of tweezers, which aid in the pulling process in a way that doesn't separate the body from the head, and are generally recommended by the medical profession.

And the heating, Vaseline, etc. methods aren't just more work - they're actively harmful.

Ridiculously terrible and potentially dangerous advice aside, not everyone has fingernails.

Unless you bite them down to a nub, all you need is a normal, close trimmed fingernail.

Ridiculously terrible and potentially dangerous to remove a tick with your fingernail? I scoff at the ignorance. The great majority of ticks will be unknowingly scratched off before you even notice you have one dug in. So I guess you could use special tools to remove those last 10% that you happened to notice before scratching them off.

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