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"I was very surprised at the amount of time I spent with the doctor. That was different."
Haddonfield, NJ

Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection that is transmitted almost exclusively by Deer tick bites. Unfortunately these ticks are abundant in Philadelphia and most of Southeastern PA and the tri-state area. The importance of Lyme disease prevention is stressed through prompt and appropriate tick removal and antibiotic prophylaxis. Prophylaxis is the medical term used when a health care provider utilizes a therapy in an attempt to prevent a disease.

Why is it so important not to get Lyme disease? When individuals are first infected with Lyme disease, they may or may not develop the bulls eye rash which can confirm the infection. It has been proven that the bulls eye rash is the least common rash of Lyme disease. More commonly, the rash is nonspecific. The only significant clue is that the rash of Lyme disease does not occur immediately at the time of tick bite, but somewhere within three days to three weeks after the bite.

During and after this period infected individuals may develop symptoms as if they have the flu such as headache, aches and pains, low grade fevers, and fatigue. Some will develop classic Lyme arthritis (painful swollen joints that predominantly involve the knees, hands and wrists). Many will have no symptoms at all! At this stage oral antibiotics given appropriately for thirty days will cure over 85% of cases.

What is most concerning is the fact tht if individuals who develop early Lyme disease are not treated, after a few days to weeks the rash, if there is one, will disappear as well as the symptoms, but they are still infected.

The Haverford Wellness Center under the direction of Domenic Braccia D.O.is dedicated to the accurate diagnosis and reasonable treatment of Lyme disease and other tick borne diseases. Dr. Braccia and the staff ot the Haverford Wellness Center are fully equipped and capable of managing all aspects of Lyme disease and the other tick borne diseases from prevention and management of early disease to the most complex diagnostic and therapeutic cases. These cases include treatment failures, and late stage Lyme disease patients who have been ill for many years.