What to do if you get a tick bite.
Has anyone else noticed that the ticks are out in FULL FORCE this year? I’ve experienced it myself, and many of my friends have said something to me about it too. I get asked all the time by friends and family when they get bit, “What should I take? Do I need to do anything?”. Let’s talk about it.
First of all, let’s talk about what ticks are and the mechanism of how they spread disease. Ticks are parasites that feed on the blood of mammals. By ingesting the blood of infected mammals, and then injecting it into their “new hosts” by way of saliva, they spread disease. They can spread a myriad of bacterias, viruses, and other blood parasites such as malaria. Tick Borne illness has becoming a sort of hidden epidemic in North America with reported cases of Lyme disease (Borrelia Bacteria) reaching nearly 500,000 each year….and these are only the REPORTED and confirmed cases. What makes it even trickier, is that traditional western blot blood tests only test for presence of 7 species of borrelia bacteria in the bloodstream, but there are 20 species of borrelia bacteria that can cause Lyme disease! Many, many cases go unconfirmed or misdiagnosed and people find themselves with serious (what I call) “mystery illness”. This doesn’t even include all the co-infections that can be contracted alongside of this bacteria. There is lots of anecdotal evidence from both patients and practitioners alike that confirm this to be the case.
Generally speaking, our immune systems are innately intelligent and know how to handle foreign invaders better than we ever could. It’s the brilliance of the human body. That’s important to remember. This article is not to induce fear, it's to educate, and provide you with tools to have on hand if you feel your body needs a little extra support after a bite. It’s common for our immune and detoxification systems to be bogged down by environmental toxins, stress, or a myriad of other factors that could keep us out of balance. This is unfortunately just the nature of humanity at this time of life as we are learning to adapt as a species to new things like EMF radiation and other processed foods and chemicals we’ve been introduced to in the last Century. With that being said, I’m going to give you a few things to have on hand that you can utilize if you get bit by a tick and feel like your Immune System could use a little extra oomph. My #1 favorite is Japanese Knotweed Supreme. It’s high in resveratrol (antioxidant) to help the body fight off oxidative stress. Resveratrol also helps reduce excess inflammation that could contribute to things like joint and muscle pain. This is a key factor in immune System Competency. It has also been shown to induce AUTOPHAGY which is the process of cells eliminating waste products; this process is important because it protects against diseases and takes some extra work off the immune systems plate, if you will. Japanese Knotweed has also been shown to be effective against drug resistant bacterias. Many Lyme literate Doctors consider this to be one of the most important herbs used in their treatments. My #2 favorite is Andrographis Supreme. Andrographis (green chiretta herb) has been used throughout Asia for thousands of years for colds, flu’s, respiratory illness, and gastroenteritis. The reason I like to have this on hand post tick bite is because it’s a powerful broad spectrum antimicrobial that is effective against both bacterias and viruses; both of which can be contracted from tick bites. I have just a few more tips for you, hang in there! I highly recommend getting what’s called a tick key for proper tick removal. These are little plastic devices that ensure you remove the entire tick after it’s embedded. I keep one in my car or backpack when i’m hiking. You can find them on Amazon. Some folks choose to save the tick in a small plastic bag to have it submitted for disease testing through specialized laboratories like IGENEX. There is one more thing I like to have on hand, and that is Immune Harmony Oil by Vervita. I always apply this topically twice per day post tick bite. I also want to mention that there is promising evidence that shows Doxycycline to be effective against some tick borne bacterias within 72 hours of being bitten. If you begin to feel ill within 12-24 hours post tick bite in any way, it’s advisable to visit your doctor as soon as possible to explore this option.
There you have it! There’s probably a million more things I could recommend on a case by case basis, because there’s such a variety of factors, but these are my general recommendations of what to keep in your medicine cabinet. I hope this information was helpful to you, and you feel empowered to support yourself and your family so you can go out and enjoy nature all Summer long!
*The links to Supreme Nutrition products are affiliate links. The Link for Immune Harmony Oil will take you to my Doctors Supplement Store online dispensary. If you are not already registered for an account, please use code “JS5211” to register and order your oil.
*You can read more details about these herbs and cited studies on the Supreme Nutrition Website. Thank you for using my links!
