I want to share with you all just how small ticks can be.

Soooo, all I did was walk down the dirt road about 200 yards, and then right back to my place. But I picked up some nasty little hitchhikers along the way!!

I wanted to post about this because even I'm surprised at how small these things were! They felt like tick bites to me, but when I looked, it literally looked like flakes of ground black pepper! They were so small I was just amazed - and at first I doubted they really were ticks! LOL!!!

Now for those that don't know that might be alarmed, I've been on astragalus since January of this year, and on high doses for the last handful of months thanks to ticks attaching. LOL!!

So for anyone that's interested, I actually took a couple of pictures (sorry, I was fascinated by how small they were!). Please excuse my whiter than white skin!!!

This first picture is one on the end of my thumb - it's a tiny little black speck. I couldn't focus in any better, sorry:
goo.gl/qyWdPH

This next one is on my (whiter than white!! Put your sunglasses on!) ankle. The first thing you will see is a chigger bite (sorry!) - the tick is actually that little bitty black spot - with a small red spot around it. goo.gl/SfomKs

And this one is just a bit of a close up on the same tick, on that same (WOW that's white!) ankle: goo.gl/SkOeQD

Again - I'm sharing this so that people will understand just how small these darned things can be - and to reiterate that it's these little guys that are most responsible for Lyme. The bacterium is more concentrated in them.

Exactly, Sunfun!! Over the years of my being on this site, I have seen sooo many people say "but I didn't see a tick"! Well, you don't have to see it. These were literally as small as flakes of pepper that someone had thrown on me - only they were ticks!!!

Wow, Traveler! I knew the nymphs were small, but no, I didn't realize they were like specks. You are sure they were ticks, right? The chigger bite brings back bad memories for me - my ankles and feet were covered and the itching was so severe, I couldn't help scratching...they itched for more than a month! I also found 3 ticks on me on that occasion.

So if they're that small, how do you manage to pull them out with tweezers I wonder?
And are you sure you found them all? I hope you haven't been re-infected. Will you send them in for testing?

I am so freaked out that I won't go near a plant without long sleeves or long pants and I use DEET. When I come in the house it is strip, clothes in the wash with super hot water, full body inspection and a shower mostly to get off the DEET.

Shoot guys how are you going to see a tick that big in your scalp, a woman's full set of hair, or even the bulls eye rash in your scalp?????????

CDC should mention that. "Oh and by the way if a tick bites you in your scalp, it may be difficult to identify whether it was a tick or not, or whether you have a bullseye rash unless you shave your head. If you become symptomatic it is not Lyme." BS! Bunch of Fn idiots in CDC and IDSA. lyme is under diagnosed because it's hard to tell if you've ever been bitten. I don't examine every aspect of my body every day like Kim Kardashian.

When I was in 4th grade standing outside the school library, my classmate told me not to move as he pulled out a large tick that he noticed just through my hair line. I would have never caught the bugger if it wasn't for him.

CD It's like a cruel joke that the most "potent" ticks for spreading Lyme are so tiny!!! The only thing that has happened so far is major itching!! LOL! Not like chiggers though, this will be over with in about 3 or 4 days for me. That chigger bite in the photo is about a week old and has just stopped itching like crazy. I tear into them in my sleep, so there's very little I can do about it.

Yes, I did make sure that I had been FULLY inspected! LOL! I have no desire to see how long I can let one of those little buggars feed off of me!! The only way I could get them off was with a pair of very fine tipped tweezers - they were simply too small to even see (other than seeing that black speck) so there was no way to use anything else.

Key Lyme Just to be doubly sure before I embarrassed myself and posted all of this on here (LOL!) I got out the magnifying glass and sure enough, that little black speck had legs!!!! And a white dot on his/her back!! My first word? "CRAP!" Hubby's first words to me? "What?!?" My second & third words: Seed ticks! His next words echoed my first.

No, I didn't send any of them in for testing - I'm not confident in the testing even for ticks. I'm on astragalus for prevention of Lyme - and watch myself for other possible infections. If I start showing signs of any infection, I will take quick action (I have the herbs here waiting!) and you all will definitely hear about it!!! LOL! I'll have to have someplace to whine about it!!

Agreed, One time about the CDC!!!

Korissa that story is similar to how I got infected last summer, only I was in town in a grocery store!! So it's more ironic than twisted I think!


LMC Mom, you must have your privacy settings for FB on those pictures set to something other than public, as they can't be seen. I saw a message that said I didn't have permission to see that. LOL! I'm so glad that your daughter got treatment right away!!!

I am too, but then my other daughter mentioned she has had several ticks (don't remember all that!). I told her to just watch in her life and get to an LLMD if there is ever anything that could be a symptom. Of course she leaves for France Wed. until Jan.! ugh. Oldest son is on lifetime protocol, just in case. Little one is on Bactrim 6 weeks - just in case. I'm not messing around anymore even if it's overkill.

Stay well! I have not been able to handle getting on here too much, sorry....

So much for mowing the lawn today, or going outside.. ever.

Holy $hit!

I really don't know what else to say.

Boy!! Talk about itching!! Ugh!! Well, good thing is that means that my immune system is hard at work, fighting those bacteria!!

LMCMom - no worries - just know that you are still on my mind and in my heart!!

Thanks MarieLS - thinking of you too, hoping that things start turning your way!!

LOL! Antonio, I really do understand, but we can't live in a bubble, so the best thing is to protect yourself any time you are outdoors. A lesson I'm still learning obviously!! At least I've learned to stay on the astragalus!!

Georgia Hunter, yes, it was the itching that alerted me to the fact that I had been bit by a tick. It's amazing to me how many different kinds of itching a person can identify and connect with different insect bites!! These were much smaller than a grain of sand - they looked like flecks of ground pepper - and there were a couple of white ones too, which blend too nicely with my own skin color!


Dancingbear - you pretty much echoed my exact words when I saw them!! LOL!

Lymie Girl - I grew up with tick checks, but what wasn't known is that they can cause such debilitating issues!! So, 40 years after symptoms of my first tick-borne infection (RMSF), I was finally diagnosed - with every single tick-borne infection, according to my LLMD at the time, Dr. Edwin Masters (RIP) of Missouri.

With so many new people on here, I thought it would be good to make sure everyone knows how small they really can be!

Thank you all for caring so much!! Your thoughts are greatly appreciated (scratch, scratch)