Video: You’ve Been Removing Ticks All Wrong

Spring is a great time to be out searching for morel mushrooms, wild turkeys and stream trout, but your hikes through the forest don’t come risk-free. Chances are good that you’ll encounter ticks, and depending on where you roam, dangerous deer ticks could be present.

If a tick is embedded in your skin, do you know the best way to remove it?

If you burn off a tick with a match, you’re doing it wrong. The same goes for smothering a tick and forcing it to back out with the aid of petroleum jelly or oil.

In the video below, Mike Adam, senior biologist for the Lake County Health Department in Illinois, explains why these methods could put you in danger to disease. And he also shares the best way for removing a tick from your skin.

P.S. If you sometimes find ticks in your yard, check out this story for tips on how to get rid of them for good.

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