Here is how to get a tick off without tweezers.

As parasitic arthropods, ticks always need a suitable host to feed. Of course, their meal comprises solely on blood. Their mouthparts are well adapted for feeding on blood.

These have to be buried into the skin of a host. Humans, pets, and other animals are among targeted hosts.

Tick types include the groundhog tick, the black-legged tick, and the brown dog tick. Other types include the lone star tick among others. The normal response when a tick is found is to have it removed.

How you remove a tick will determine the extent of relief obtained.

There’s a wrong way of removing ticks. This article takes a look at the process of removing ticks without tweezers. Is this possible?

Can a good job be done without this important tool?

Tweezers are Important Tools but…

A tweezer is useful for a wide range of things especially those involving picking up small objects. The tweezer is a small pincer-like tool usually made of metal material.

It has found uses for tick removal as it can make the job a lot easier.

While this is true, you might not have a tweezer to remove ticks. Also, a tweezer may be a bit too sharp for your kid’s or pet’s sensitive skin.

Under such circumstances, it becomes necessary to find alternative ways to remove ticks without this important tool. So, how do you go about the process?

Removing Ticks Without Tweezers

Without a tweezer, you can still have a tick removed without much of a problem.

You can have them removed using your hands or can use alternative tools such as dental floss, sewing needle, or even a dish or hand soap method.

Ticks can also be removed using vinegar, credit card, Vaseline, or olive oil.

With these methods mentioned let’s take a look at each for a better understanding of the procedure. You can choose from any of them that work best for you.

  • Removing Ticks with Hands

It’s important to clearly state that the use of hands isn’t recommended by medical experts. However, it can still get the job done. First off, you’ll need to get your hands clean by washing them.

You’ll need to have grown nails (not too long) to implement this process.

Next, your fingernails should be carefully placed around the tick to get a good grip. Now, carefully pull the tick up. The upward pull shouldn’t be sudden by slow and even.

Ensure you don’t squeeze the tick too hard as the head main snap from the body and remain in the skin.

With the tick removed, treat the bite area with some rubbing alcohol. In the absence of rubbing alcohol, you might want to wash the area with soap and water.

  • Removing Ticks with Dental Floss

If you don’t want to use a tweezer or your hands for tick removal, your dental floss may come in handy. First, sanitize the targeted area as well as your hands before tying the floss around the tick.

With the floss in position, gently and steadily pull up the floss to dislodge the tick from the bite area.

No sudden upward pull must be applied to avoid detaching the tick’s head from its body. Now, this could be a bit challenging when dealing with smaller ticks.

If that’s your situation, consider using any other alternative listed here that provides a better grip.

  • Removing Ticks with Sewing Needle

Another tool you might want to use for tick removal apart from a tweezer is a sewing needle.

However, if your reason for avoiding a tweezer is due to the pinch it might give, then a sewing needle wouldn’t be ideal as it’s likely to also give a pinch to delicate skin.

After disinfecting the area around the tick, heat your sewing needle in fire and place it on the tick. This should be enough to make it remove its head from the bite area.

If it doesn’t, you might have to take further action by dislodging the tick’s head from the bite area. This might be a bit uncomfortable for you.

  • Removing Ticks with Hand Soap

Other ways of removing ticks without tweezers include the hand soap method. How is this done? Here, you’ll need either dish soap or hand soap, to begin with.

Get some cotton balls or swabs and add soap to it. This should be placed against the tick. By doing that, the tick should pull out its head from the bite area.

  • Tick Removal using Vinegar

Do you have some vinegar around? This will come in handy when removing ticks without the use of tweezers. Get some undiluted white distilled vinegar poured on the tick.

After a while, such tick(s) should pull out its head from the skin. Why is this so?

Because the vinegar smell is unpleasant to ticks.

  • Tick Removal using Old Credit Card

In the absence of tweezers, one other tool that could prove useful for tick removal is an old credit card. An expired credit card will be most ideal. You’ll have to alter its form by making a V-shaped cut along with one of its edges.

This cut is designed to grab the tick when you slide it in.

Because you want the V-shape to grab the tick, caution should be taken not to cut it too wide. By carefully sliding the card over your skin or that of your pet, the tick’s head should be able to come off.

You might have to try multiple times for any real results.

  • Tick Removal Using Vaseline

Vaseline could come in handy for tick removal.

Instead of a tweezer, you can cover ticks with some Vaseline and wait until they withdraw their buried head from the skin. Vaseline works by covering tick bodies, thus making it difficult to breathe because ticks breathe through their skin.

  • Tick Removal Using Olive Oil

Olive oil can come in handy for tick removal. To have any real chance of success, you’ll need to apply this oil to a cotton swab and place it against the tick.

Leave for about 5 to 10 minutes for the tick to pull its head out.

Removing ticks without tweezers isn’t difficult at all. As discussed above, you can either use your hands or get the job done using alternative tools and household products.

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