Ways to prevent Lyme disease
- Recognize that when walking outside there is a chance of being exposed to ticks.
- Try to avoid those areas, but if that is not possible, tuck pants into socks.
- Spray insect repellent with DEET onto clothes and any exposed areas of skin when hiking or doing any activity where ticks might be found.
- When arriving home after being outdoors it is important to look carefully all over your body. Check all clothes and areas where hair grows on the body.
If you are bitten by a tick:
- Carefully pull tick off with tweezers.
- Remember that you had a tick bite so you can tell your doctor where the bite occurred.
- Contact a doctor immediately after symptoms occur.