Dealing with ticks - Permethrin

I had a bad experience with ticks this summer. A trail I was walking on became overgrown (grass in center), and I had to stop every minute to flick off half a dozen ticks racing up my pants leg. My only defense was DEET which did not seem to be working. Eventually I turned back.

A coworker recommended permethrin. A quick glance on the internet shows it to be effective against ticks.

I was wondering, for those of you who have used the product, do you find it is 100% effective, or will I still have to deal with ticks in June?

Do you spray everything (outer clothing, backpack, and hat) or just your pants?

I've used it and it does work pretty well. It doesn't kill instantly, so it's still a good idea to check for ticks every so often. I've found ticks embedded a couple different times, but they were dead. I've walked through some grassy areas where my legs were covered with ticks, and later they were all gone.

If you use the spray cans, Sawyer's aerosol cans and spray bottles both clog frequently. I use Repel Permanone instead. I used to get it at Walmart but haven't seen it there in a couple years, so I order it from forestry-suppliers.com.

Others here have used the soak method, but I haven't.

Permethrin-sprayed clothing works very well for ticks. Do remember that it's a pesticide, not a repellent. Follow label instructions very carefully; don't spray it on your skin or on your clothes while you're wearing them, spray only out in the open upwind of the garments and let the clothing dry thoroughly before you put it on. Spray all your clothing including pants, shirt,shoes, sock uppers, hat. One treatment lasts a couple of weeks, even through laundering. The US Military soaks garments in strong permethrin solution and uses a combination of this plus strong DEET on the skin in areas with malaria mosquitoes. It works for ticks, too.

However, in tick country it's also important to wear long sleeves, long pants, a hat and especially wear gaiters or tuck your pants legs into your socks to keep the critters from climbing up your legs inside your pants. If you're in tall brush, the critters may be waiting quite high up. Therefore, also put a line of DEET-containing repellent around your wrists, around your neck and at your hairline. When you get home, immediately head for the bathtub, shake your clothes out there and inspect yourself thoroughly (take your significant other or a good mirror). If a tick that has bitten is removed within a couple of hours, you'll probably be OK.

If you have a dog, make sure you treat him with Frontline or K9Advantix (not Advantage) monthly. Check with your vet first; some dogs have bad reactions to this stuff. These treatments kill the ticks after they bite but before the tick has a chance to release its stomach fluids (which contain the nasty germs) into the victim (which it does 2-3 hours after biting). You therefore will find ticks crawling on your dog's fur looking for a place to bite, and you may find a few attached. It's important to comb out the dog thoroughly to remove wandering ticks looking for a place to bite. Also remove any attached ticks. Do this before letting him into the car, or you'll have the critters coming home with you. If you live in an area with a high incidence of Lyme disease, ask your vet about vaccine for your dog.

Removing ticks that have bitten: use tweezers on the tick's head. Squeezing the tick's body or using the old folk remedies such as hot match, gasoline (not to be used together, obviously), soap, vaseline or whatever will only make the tick release those germ-containing fluids into the bite. If the tick is imbedded, seek medical help. You can help prevent embedding by looking before you scratch!

Of course now I'm itching like crazy, and this isn't even tick season!

One of our long-time members here came down with an awful case of Lyme disease that wouldn't go away. We haven't heard from him in, I believe, a couple of years now and are very worried. Despite my comment about psychological itching, we do take ticks very seriously!