Removal · field guidance

Drowning an attached tick in dish soap

Soaking a soap-soaked cotton ball over the tick is too slow, unreliable, and increases the time the tick is feeding.

Steps

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01
DO NOT pour dish soap onto an attached tick or hold a soapy cotton ball over it expecting it to detach.
02
Even if it eventually works, you have spent precious minutes during which the tick continues to feed and potentially transmit pathogens.
03
A suffocating, dying tick is also more likely to regurgitate into the wound.
04
Instead, use fine-tipped tweezers immediately. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull straight up with steady pressure.
05
Soap and water are still useful, but for cleaning the bite area after removal, not as a removal tool.

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