Family Medicine

by Dr. Long Nguyen, DO Board Certified Family Medicine ThedaCare Physicians - Berlin ThedaCare Physicians - Wautoma TICKS AND LYME DISEASE We live in a tick-heavy region. It is not uncommon to find several ticks daily. So it’s important to actually do a skin check everyday. It is even more essential if you live in an area with woods and lots of foliage as this is where most ticks hide. Even if you personally do not go into the woods or are outside, it does not mean your pets can’t bring them in. When doing a daily skin check, the most common areas tick tend to hide are the hairline, armpits, groin. Of course, they can be found anywhere on the body so check the obvious exposed areas first then move to the rest of the arms, legs, back. It is much easier if you have someone to help you check so they can look at those hard to see places. If you find a tick, what now?! First, not every tick is a deer tick and not every deer tick carries Lyme. Second, think, how long has it been on, how long could it have been on. Is it engorged? If you are able to safely remove the tick completely with tweezers do so, but if you need help, you can come to your family physician to remove. This will also give you a chance to discuss with your doctor treatment choices and whether or not it is needed. Be careful about removing it and accidentally leaving the embedded tick head still in the skin. If ever in doubt, come get checked out. When do we treat? There are really 2 times we consider antibiotics. First, is if someone tests positive for Lyme via blood work. You will get placed on 2-3 weeks of antibiotics, doxycycline is usually first line however there are other options if allergic or intolerant. The second time your physician may consider treatment is to prophylactically cover for potential development of Lyme, however there are very specific criteria to meet before doing this. And the prophylactic antibiotic is a single dose of doxycycline. Criteria for prophylaxis: Has to be a deer tick Has to be in a high endemic region for Lyme Tick must have been on for >36 hours What are Lyme symptoms? These can be very vague and nonspecific such as fatigue, joint pains, rash, etc. The rash many know of is the bullseye rash however it is not necessary to have to be concerned about Lyme and not all Lyme rashes look the same. Typically, there is a full workup of other potential causes of these symptoms and if your physician deemed necessary or concerning will add on Lyme testing. Any other questions or concerns, always defer to your physician. Come check with your physician for potential treatment options or simply for ease of mine and reassurance. Do you have any interesting, common medical topics you want Dr. Nguyen to write about? Dr. Nguyen hopes to keep topics short and succinct, to the point, so that it is easy for everyone to understand. Dr. Nguyen will start with monthly topics for now and may increase depending on interest in the community. Submit your topics to: DrLongWautoma@gmail.com