Early signs of a Lyme disease can be avoided with some preventive measures. The basic preventive measures for the early signs of Lyme disease are to avoid areas that are prone to ticks, especially woody, busy areas with long grass. Apart from that, here are some measures that can reduce the chances of acquiring the Lyme disease.
- Stay covered. If you are walking around woody or long grassed bushy areas, make sure you are covered up well. Wear long-sleeved t-shirts, long pants tucked into your socks, shoes, a hat and possibly a pair of gloves. If you are taking your dog for a walk in such areas, make sure you have them on a leash. When walking, try and avoid walking through the long bushes and grass, stick to the sides with the low grass.
- Insect repellents. You can avoid pretreated clothing or apply a product with permethrin to safeguard your clothes. As far as your skin is concerned, you can apply insect repellents that are 20 percent or higher concentrated with DEET. If you are applying insect repellents to your children, ensure that you avoid the palms, eyes, and mouth. You must also note that insect repellents can be toxic, so make sure you use them with care.
- Tick-proof your yard. For all you know, there might be infectious ticks in your yard itself. They could come into your house through your pets or any other source. Try to avoid this by tick-proofing your yard. If you are stocking wood piles, do that in a sunny area to avoid the growth of ticks. Clear out the dried leaves and bushes where the ticks usually leave.
- Check your children, pets and yourself for ticks. Ticks take about 36 to 48 hours or more for them to infect you with the early signs of Lyme disease. When you go out in woody or long grassed areas, make sure you shower as soon as you return. The deer ticks are not bigger than a pinhead in size, so you might not be able to spot them with ease. These ticks are on your skin for a while before they attach themselves.
- Remove the tick. As the tick takes a long time to infect you, clear it out from your skin as soon as you see it. You can use a pair of tweezers to pluck the tick out of your body. There might be a small insect-bite like rash on your skin, but it will prevent you from developing early signs of Lyme disease.
