Category Archives: Check skin and clothes daily

Protect Yourself from Tick Bites



Avoid areas with a lot of ticks

  • Ticks prefer wooded and bushy areas with high grass and a lot of leaf litter. These are very common in the Wilmington, Delaware area. These are areas to avoid.
  • Take extra precautions in May, June, and July. This is when ticks that transmit Lyme disease are most active.
  • If you do enter a tick area, walk in the center of the trail to avoid contact with overgrown grass, brush, and leaf litter.
  • Ask your local health department and park or extension service about tick infested areas to avoid.

Keep ticks off your skin



  • Use insect repellent with Permethrin to prevent tick bites. It can be purchased at outdoor equipment stores that carry camping or hunting gear. Permethrin kills ticks on contact! One application to pants, socks, and shoes typically stays effective through several washings. Permethrin should not be applied directly to skin.
  • Wear long pants, long sleeves, and long socks to keep ticks off your skin. Light-colored clothing will help you spot ticks more easily. Tucking pant legs into socks or boots and tucking shirts into pants help keep ticks on the outside of clothing. If you’ll be outside for an extended period of time, tape the area where your pants and socks meet to prevent ticks from crawling under your clothes.

Check your skin and clothes for ticks every day

  • Remove ticks from your clothes before going indoors. To kill ticks that you may have missed, wash your clothes with hot water and dry them using high heat for at least one hour.
  • Perform daily tick checks after being outdoors, even in your own yard. Inspect all parts of your body carefully including your armpits, scalp, and groin. Remove ticks immediately using fine-tipped tweezers.
  • If a tick is attached to your skin for less than 24 hours, your chance of getting Lyme disease is extremely small. But just to be safe, monitor your health closely after a tick bite and be alert for any signs and symptoms of tick-borne illness.

If you suspect Lyme disease it’s important to get an accurate diagnosis and Lyme treatment started right away.



We recommend Sawyer’s Insect Repellant



tick-repellantInsect repellant for ticksSawyer not only repels insects, it actually kill ticks, mosquitoes, chiggers, mites and more than 100 other kinds of insects. Sawyer repellents are for use on clothing, tents and other gear only. A single application will remain effective for up to six weeks, even if you wash the garment once a week.

Visit the Sawyer website for more information or to purchase



 

 



Domenick Braccia

Domenick BracciaMedical Doctor at Haverford Wellness Center
Domenick Braccia, D.O. is the Medical Director of Haverford Wellness Center. With over 20 years of experience in healthcare, Dr. Braccia is a graduate of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed a Family Practice Residency Program at Delaware County Memorial Hospital. Successful treatment of Lyme disease is a professional challenge for Dr. Braccia, using both traditional and non-traditional therapies, to offer the best possible treatment outcome. Dr. Braccia provides patients with the best clinical Lyme research as well as his personal philosophy of treating “the whole person.”

26 reasons why you might receive a false “negative Lyme test”



false1. Recent infection before immune response
2. Antibodies are in immune complexes
3. Spirochete encapsulated by host tissue (i.e.: lymphocytic cell walls)
4. Spirochete is deep in host tissue (i.e.: fibroblasts, neurons, etc.)
5. Blebs in body fluid, no whole organisms available for PCR
6. No spirochetes in body fluid on day of test
7. Genetic heterogeneity (300 strains, 100 in U.S.)
8. Antigenic variability
9. Surface antigens change with temperature
10. Utilization of host protease instead of microbial protease
11. Spirochete in dormancy phase (L-form) with no cell walls Additional Reasons for False Lyme test
12. Recent antibiotic treatment
13. Recent anti-inflammatory treatment
14. Concomitant infection with babesia may cause immunosuppression
15. Other causes of immunosuppression
16. Lab with poor technical capability for Lyme disease
17. Lab tests not standardized for late stage disease
18. CDC criteria is epidemiological not a diagnostic criteria
19. Lack of standardized control
20. Most controls use only a few strains as reference point
21. Few organisms are sometimes present
22. Encapsulated by glycoprotein “S-layer” which impairs immune recognition
23. “S”- layer binds to IgM
24. Immune deficiency
25. Possible down regulation of immune system by cytokines
26. Revised Western Blot test criteria fails to include most significant antigens