Tick season is getting worse. Here’s what that means for you

Finally, the weather is wonderful, and you’re spending time working in your garden or hiking a favorite meadow trail. But it’s also tick season, and if you’re outdoors, you may encounter one — or more. ER visits for tick bites are now soaring across the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They are at their highest levels since 2017. “It seems to be a dramatic jump even from where we were a year ago,” says Richard Horowitz, MD, a Lyme disease specialist in Hyde Park, New York and author of Why Can’t I Get Better? Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Disease.

Infected black-legged ticks are known to transmit Lyme disease, a bacterial infection that, when caught early, causes mild symptoms and can be treated with antibiotics. But if goes undiagnosed, it can cause more serious complications, such as severe joint pain and swelling, facial palsy, heart palpitations, and cognitive issues. Americans in their 50s account for more Lyme disease health insurance claims than any other age group, according to the nonprofit FAIR Health. There may be many more who are undiagnosed, adds Dr. Horowitz. “Some symptoms may be dismissed as due to other age-related conditions, such as osteoarthritis or menopause,” he says.

About that big uptick in tick bites: The cause, perhaps surprisingly, is climate change. “As our world warms up, the reproductive rates of most insects increases,” explains Dr. Horowitz. And unlike other bugs, “ticks don’t die with extreme cold or ice,” says Horowitz. “They hunker down, and as soon as the temperature reaches the 40s or 50s, they can be active again.”

What’s more, ticks can do more harm than just transmit Lyme Disease. They can carry multiple pathogens, and the incidence of some of the rarer diseases they can cause, like the bacterial infection anaplasmosis (a bacterial infection), is also on the upswing, according to CDC data.

But just because ticks are out and about for longer stretches of the year doesn’t mean you need to avoid your yard and the outdoors in general.

Even if you’re just gardening for a few minutes. The CDC recommends one that contains any of these ingredients: DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE). If you’re also applying sunscreen, do that first, then insect repellent.

An insect-repellent spray (look for a 0.5% concentration per the CDC). Pretreated outdoors gear is also available; it’s often called insect-repellent clothing.

This makes your yard less hospitable to ticks. Mow often, remove old leaves, clear tall grasses, create a 3’-wide barrier of wood chips or gravel between your lawn and any wooded areas, and stack wood in a dry area to discourage mice who can spread Lyme disease. Also use insect-control lawn food and lawn products to minimize outdoor bugs.

Alexandra Moresco, 33, a chronic Lyme patient and Board Chair of the non-profit Project Lyme, uses one to wipe down herself and her dogs after being outdoors and trap any ticks.

The CDC recommends that you do them every time you return from an area with ticks. Here's where ticks love to burrow: under your arms, in and around your ears, the backs of your knees, around your waist, and in your hair (get a family member of friend to scan your scalp).

Research shows that if you shower within two hours of coming indoors from your yard, you reduce your risk of developing Lyme disease by 58%.

Even with all these precautions, it’s still important to monitor yourself for symptoms of Lyme disease if you spend a lot of time outdoors, says Dr. Horowitz, especially if you live in an area with high transmission rates. About 70 percent of people experience a bullseye rash. Other symptoms can be a bad headache, neck stiffness, aches and pains, dizziness or heart palpitations, notes Dr. Horowitz, “and joint or nerve pain that migrates around your body.” If you think you may have Lyme disease, talk to your doctor or find a Lyme disease specialist via the Global Lyme Alliance. 

Equipped with this intel, you’re ready to get out there, enjoy your garden and nature, and dodge those ticks all summer.