If you feel like it’s getting harder and harder to avoid a tick bite lately, you’re not wrong. Emergency room visits for tick bites are higher than normal in most parts of the country, and on average, 31 million people are bitten by a tick every year in the U.S.

“This is due to multiple factors including growing populations of animal hosts such as deer and mice, and changing weather patterns that allow ticks to live longer,” explains Catherine Jamin, M.D., vice chair of clinical operations for the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine at NYU Langone Health.

Ticks thrive in grassy and wooded areas, especially during warmer months. So if you spend time hiking, camping, or doing other outdoor activities, you’re likely exposed to ticks.

The good news is that if you take preventive steps, you can lower your chance of developing tick-borne illnesses like Lyme disease and alpha-gal syndrome. “Nothing's foolproof, but there are a lot of steps that you can take to help reduce the risk of getting a tick bite,” says Aubrey Ryan, PA-C, a physician assistant in the emergency department and tick clinic at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.

How to prevent tick bites

The less access you give ticks to your skin, the lower your odds are that a tick will bite you. If you’re spending time in an area where tick bites are common, take these steps to keep ticks away:

  • Wear long pants and long sleeves while outdoors, advises Ryan, and tuck your pants into your socks.
  • Treat your clothes, camping gear, and skin with insecticide: Ryan suggests checking to see which types of insecticides are safe for clothing versus your skin.
  • Take a shower and inspect your body (including the scalp, behind the ears and knees, and under the arms) for ticks after spending time outdoors, says Dr. Jamin. Check your pets and clothing, too.
  • Put clothing that you wore outdoors in the dryer on the highest setting for 10 minutes before sitting on furniture or hanging it in your closet, adds Ryan.

How to remove a tick

In the event that you find a tick on your body and it has already bitten you, don’t panic. “It’s a common misconception that having a tick bite means that you need to rush to an emergency department, that you need emergency testing for tick-borne illness,” says Ryan. “This is a moment where we can take a pause and deal with this over the course of a day or two. Certainly we want to remove the tick as soon as possible, but we want to remove it properly.”

The best way to get a tick off you ASAP, Ryan explains, is to use tweezers, a specialized tick removal kit, or your fingers (wash your hands first) if they’re all you have on hand. Grasp the tick as closely as you can to its head, and pull directly upright. “You don't want to grab it by the abdomen because doing that can actually break the tick's body,” she says.

Ticks carry bacteria in their gut, and if you squeeze the tick’s abdomen, you can push more of this bacteria into your body, and this can increase your chance of infection, Ryan says. Lyme disease, for example, is transmitted through a tick’s gut bacteria. When a tick fills with your blood and eventually starts spreading its gut bacteria back into your body, Lyme disease can spread. The longer a tick is attached to you, the more time the tick has to engorge and spread bacteria.

If the tick’s body does break, “sometimes little specks of those pieces may remain, and that's okay. Your body will push them out. We don't have to go digging at them,” Ryan says. She doesn’t recommend trying to remove the pieces because doing so can irritate your skin, and it won’t have any bearing on your risk for developing a tick-borne infection, she explains.

Should you call your doctor after a tick bite?

Yes, let your doctor know if you’ve been bitten by a tick. They can help you figure out your next steps and potentially reduce your chances of infection with early treatment.

Blacklegged ticks, also known as deer ticks, are the type of ticks that can spread Lyme disease. If you know that a deer tick bit you or you’re not sure what type of tick bit you, let your doctor know. A single 200-mg dose of the antibiotic medication doxycycline is 87% effective at preventing Lyme disease in people bitten by deer ticks, if the tick was attached for less than 36 hours and you start taking the medication within 72 hours of the bite.

That said, not all tick-borne diseases spread in the same way. For example, alpha-gal syndrome, an allergy to red meat and other mammal products, is transmitted through the saliva of the lone star tick. Not everyone who is bitten by a lone star tick will go on to develop alpha-gal syndrome, but the prevalence of alpha-gal syndrome is rising as the lone star tick population expands.

It’s helpful to talk to your health care provider about the circumstances of your tick bite: where were you, how long was the tick attached, and whether or not you have any symptoms of tick-borne illnesses, Ryan says. That way, they can counsel you on symptoms to look out for.

“Oftentimes, people do not see a tick, but they notice a circular rash that is not itchy or painful,” Jamin says. If you develop a rash, fatigue, fever, chills, or other symptoms after a tick bite, seek medical attention.

The bottom line

While the best way to prevent tick-borne illnesses is to prevent tick bites altogether, knowing how to remove a tick properly can reduce your chances of infection, especially Lyme disease.

Check yourself for ticks after spending time outside, and if you spot an attached tick, remove it by applying firm pressure to its head and pulling straight upward.

“At the end of the day, we just want to prevent tick bites, but the cardinal rule is: the sooner you get the tick off you, the less likely the risk of transmission of various conditions,” Ryan says.