For ticks, it is best to use industrial acaricidal preparations, since arthropods are much less “timid” than insects. Not all folk remedies suitable for mosquitoes and flies will repel arachnids. But what ticks fear will also repel insects.
Folk remedies for ticks for people
Anti-tick remedies are:
- acaricidal;
- repellent;
- mixed action.
Acaricides kill ticks, but it is impossible to make such a chemical at home. Even “natural” permethrin, first obtained from the chrysanthemum, is required in higher concentrations than is found in the flower. Protection with folk remedies is only possible at the level of repelling ticks from humans. Or arthropod disorientation.
On a note!
Ticks do not have eyes, but they do have organs that sense infrared radiation. You can use this to protect yourself from ixodid ticks in the country or in the forest. It is enough to place the heat emitter on the battery a little to the side. The emitter temperature should be 38-40°C to simulate the presence of an animal in this place. In all other cases, you can protect yourself in nature with the help of essential oils.
A vaccinated person is not afraid of a bite
There is only one way to develop lasting immunity against tick-borne encephalitis - to get vaccinated against this infection. You can get vaccinated for free at any public clinic at your place of registration. Only effective, well-proven domestic vaccines are used - “Tick E-Vac” for children and “EnceVir” for adults. So, this year almost 4 thousand people have already been vaccinated in Moscow, and about a thousand in the Moscow region. In 2022, 33.7 thousand and 9.5 thousand residents were vaccinated, respectively.
As the press service of the capital's health department told RG, the standard vaccination regimen against tick-borne viral encephalitis consists of three preventive vaccinations.
The interval between the first and second is at least one month, and a year must pass between the second and third. To further maintain immunity, it is necessary to carry out a single booster vaccination every three years. This vaccine protects 95% of vaccinated people. But even if the disease occurs in vaccinated people, the disease occurs with fewer consequences.
Both adults and children (over 1 year old) can be vaccinated all year round without any restrictions. Experts from the department recommend planning vaccination in such a way that at least two weeks pass from the moment of the second vaccination before leaving for an endemic area. During this time, protective immunity should have time to form. And since May and June are considered the most dangerous months, those who, for example, are going to the Vologda region, should get vaccinated right now. But you just need to remember about contraindications - these include acute infectious and non-infectious diseases, as well as chronic diseases in the acute stage (for example, bronchial asthma). The vaccination should be done no earlier than a month after recovery.
Types of oils
Ticks are not afraid of the smell of all aromatic substances; it would be better to say “they don’t like them.” The second version is why bloodsuckers do not attack when using oil: they are disoriented by the smell. If a tick does get on a person, no folk remedies will help save you from the bite. To prepare a remedy for tick bites, use the following oils:
- pine nuts (the taiga tick will only be happy);
- eucalyptus;
- mint;
- palmarosa;
- tea tree;
- thyme, also known as thyme;
- basilica;
- wormwood;
- lavender;
- carnations;
- geraniums;
- bayi;
- rosemary.
Essential oils for ticks
On a note!
To make a product based on oil at home, you will need an additional component: alcohol or vinegar. The alcohol helps the water and oil mix, and the vinegar enhances the smell.
Recipes for natural oil-based products
Alcohol- or vinegar-based sprays help against tick attacks. If you have a bottle with a sprayer, you can prepare the solution yourself.
Vinegar spray
For production you will need:
- bottle;
- 10-15 drops of essential oil;
- 4 tsp. vinegar;
- 2 tsp. water.
All ingredients are poured into the bottle and mixed well. Apply from a spray bottle to skin and clothing.
Alcohol spray
An alcohol spray is prepared in almost the same way as vinegar:
- 2 tsp. oils;
- 2 tsp. 75 percent medical alcohol;
- 1 glass of water.
All ingredients are mixed in a bottle and then used as needed. In the absence of alcohol, it can be replaced with 4 teaspoons of vodka.
Cologne with valerian
The original recipe for this folk remedy for mosquitoes and ticks uses Clove cologne, which contains clove oil. In a tablespoon. add 10-15 drops of valerian tincture to cologne. Wipe the skin with the mixture.
Cologne is still produced today. This homemade mosquito repellent has good reviews. Even without adding valerian. But it was not tested on ticks.
Gel with essential oils
The volume of the product is large. It is prepared either for the whole family, or to combat parasites during long-term outdoor activities:
- 1.5 cups vegetable oil;
- 20 drops of essential oils with a pungent odor;
- 150 ml aloe vera cream or gel.
To prepare this gel, you can take clove, geranium or lavender oil. All ingredients are poured into a container with a closing lid and mixed thoroughly.
On a note!
The disadvantage of this product is that because of the vegetable oil, people begin to hate this mixture. Oil clogs pores and stains clothes.
Liquid soap with balm Zvezdochka
You will need:
- Star on the tip of the knife;
- glass of water;
- 5 tbsp. spoons of vinegar;
- 1 tbsp. spoon of liquid soap.
Soap and balm Star from ticks
Heat the water a little to dissolve the ointment in it. Add vinegar and soap. Use the mixture to wipe open areas. The disadvantage of the product is that it repels ticks before the first sweat. Therefore, the soap drips off with sweat and stops working.
Important!
The validity period of these compounds is 6 months. These folk remedies are used for adults. Children need milder formulations against ticks.
How do bloodsuckers attack humans or animals?
The tick waits for the victim, climbing onto the tip of a blade of grass or a branch of a bush, at a height of no more than half a meter. Having taken his post, he stretches out his front legs, on which the olfactory organs are located, and moves them, moving them from side to side. When a potential victim passes by, close enough, the bloodsucker attacks: it gets caught in the fur of an animal or the fibers of clothing. It holds on very tightly, since its paws are equipped with claws and suction cups.
Both humans and animals (wild or domestic) can become victims of blood-sucking insects. It is impossible to detect the moment of a tick attack, since the insects are small and difficult to notice on clothing. Few people feel the movement of the bloodsucker on the skin. Its bite is painless, because an anesthetic substance enters the human body with its saliva.
Quite a long time passes from the moment the bloodsucker hits clothing until it bites. The dangerous insect first lands on clothing, then looks for a path to human skin. Having reached an accessible area, it either digs in immediately, or looks for a place where the skin is especially tender (armpits, stomach, chest, groin area), and sticks there.
A person discovers an embedded tick some time after the bite. As a rule, the insect manages to drink blood, which leads to an increase in the volume of its body. A person suddenly notices a growth on the skin that feels like a pimple or wart.
For children
Children's products have a mild effect due to a small percentage of active substances. This is due to the fact that children's skin often does not tolerate concentrated formulations. Treatment with drugs for children should be repeated every 1.5-2 hours.
- Vanilla water. Per liter of water, add 2 g of vanillin and boil. After cooling, lubricate exposed skin with the mixture.
- Almond oil. Mix 2 types of oils well: 2 tbsp. l almond and 15-20 drops of geranium. Store in a dark place. Rub the mixture over exposed skin.
- Clove decoction. For a glass of water, take a teaspoon of culinary spice, not oil. Bring everything to a boil. Insist for 8 hours. The decoction is used to wipe the body before going outside.
- Tea tree spray. Add 10-15 drops of tea tree oil to 50 g of water and pour everything into a spray bottle. Oil does not mix with water, and at rest the mixture separates. The bottle should be shaken well before use.
- Tea tree soap. For this composition you will need: 30 ml of liquid soap, 10 ml of soybean oil, 10-15 drops of tea tree oil. The recipe states that all ingredients must be mixed and used for washing. But you need to take into account that soap is afraid of oil in such quantities and deteriorates, ceasing to produce foam. It is difficult to use such a composition for washing, and it is dangerous to lubricate a child’s skin. Oil clogs pores and causes acne.
Tea tree soap for ticks
About the life characteristics and habits of parasites
To understand what ticks are afraid of, you should immediately divide this question into two separate topics (depending on the animal’s lifestyle).
For wild ticks, it is integrally associated with the characteristics of their life activity, including:
A fairly large tick that has entered the house can only be found attached to the body of an animal (cat, dog, cattle) walking outside the yard.
Since forest ticks feed only on blood, they are extremely sensitive to odors, by which they identify an approaching object as prey.
And they will not confuse the smell of sweat or human body with any other. Suction is preceded by a slow crawling of the parasite, not perceived by the body, in search of a vulnerable spot.
But even the very process of penetration of the tick’s skin-piercing “instruments” into the victim’s body is almost not felt by a person, since along with saliva it injects an anesthetic - a chemical “local freezing”.
Itching usually begins several hours after the moment of suction, but it is possible to notice (and more often, feel) the animal itself, swollen with blood, even later.
But there are parasites that are active all year round:
Their sizes are so tiny that they can easily be carried into the home by the wind (the first ones), or on a grooming item for the same cat - on a hair comb (ears), or they can be transmitted through skin-to-skin contact (scabies). ).
The vital activity of microscopically small mites often does not manifest itself in anything other than itching, and is perceived as nervous itching, or changes in its structure that occur as a result of the onset of a certain age (menopause, puberty).
Other folk methods
If the child is very small, the use of even mild folk remedies may be undesirable for him. To protect against ticks, you can put fresh herbs in the baby’s stroller, from which essential oils are obtained:
- lavender;
- sagebrush;
- thyme;
- basil.
The effect of fresh plants is weaker than that of oil. But such protection is better than no protection at all.
The color of clothing is one of the myths of protection. And even inconsistent with each other. According to some sources, ticks love light-colored clothes, while others love dark ones. In reality everything is simpler. Parasites are not attracted to the color of clothing by itself. They are attracted by thermal radiation, and a dark suit heats up more. Another reason for wearing light-colored equipment: dark-colored arthropods are easier to spot.
