Health Tip: Safely Remove a Tick

Promptly and safely removing a tick from your skin can help reduce the risk of illness and complications.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers these guidelines for removing a tick:

• Using a pair of fine-tipped tweezers, grasp the tick as closely as possible to the surface of the skin.
• Pulling upward steadily and evenly (never jerking or twisting), gently remove the entire tick.
• If the mouth parts remain in the skin, try to remove with the tweezers. If you can't remove the remaining pieces, leave them alone and allow the skin to heal.
• Use rubbing alcohol, iodine scrub or water and soap to thoroughly cleanse the wound once the tick is removed.
• Dispose of the tick in a container of rubbing alcohol, wrapping up in tape, placing in a sealed bag or flushing it down a toilet.