The Forest Tick

I was in the bath when I noticed the angry spot on the inside of my upper leg. An unusual shape with a head that looked like it needed squeezing. So that’s exactly what I did, taking it between my thumb and forefinger I pinched at my flesh. There was a burst of something and I didn’t think much about it until I studied what was left of it on my thumb. That’s when I saw it, a tiny living thing with a fat body, swollen with blood.

It wasn’t moving so I placed it on the side of the bath to study it some more. There were light brown markings on its back and the majority of its legs were towards the front of its miniscule head. In a bit of shock, I called out to my partner to come and have a look at the swelling in my groin area. She happily obliged and studied the creature, immediately recognising it as a tick and flushing it unceremoniously down the toilet.

I’d returned from a cycling weekend in Scotland and that was why I’d needed a good soak in a hot bath. We’d done over 50km of off road biking in the forests and off road tracks of Dumfries & Galloway. A brilliant cycling trip, but it turned out that somewhere on those long rides I’d stood for too long away from the track. That was when the parasite made its move, clambering out of the long grass and onto my leg to find a place of safety, hidden away beneath my shorts.

I’d heard about these ticks before and also knew that they had the potential for carrying Lyme Disease, so I checked out the situation on NHS Choices website and this is what they had to say:

“Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that is spread to humans by infected ticks. Ticks are tiny arachnids found in woodland areas that feed on the blood of mammals, including humans.  Tick bites often go unnoticed and the tick can remain feeding for several days before dropping off. The longer the tick is in place, the higher the risk of it passing on the infection.”

I reckoned that my new pet had been with me for at least a day so I arranged a trip to the doctor to get it looked at.  A thorough check of the area around the bite and a blood test, just to make sure, gave me the all clear.  I was lucky this time round, because Lyme Disease can be a nasty health condition if left unchecked, causing muscle pain, joint pain and even temporary paralysis of the mouth.  I didn't much like the sound of that, though I guess it would have put the final nail in the coffin to my career as a failed singer song writer - for which many of my friends would be grateful.