Most people who develop Lyme disease recover fully post-obit a course of antibiotics. In rare cases, Lyme illness symptoms may persist for weeks, months, or even years afterwards antibiotic handling.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Lyme illness is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. A vector-borne affliction is 1 that a claret-feeding arthropod, such equally a mosquito, flea, or, in the case of Lyme disease, a tick spreads.

This article describes the various handling options available for Lyme affliction. We too outline its symptoms and stages and provide tips on preventing tick bites.

a woman picking up medication at a pharmacy for lyme disease which will hopefully help as the condition is curable Share on Pinterest
A physician may prescribe a form of antibiotics to aid treat Lyme disease.

People who develop Lyme affliction crave antibiotics to impale the bacteria that an infected tick transmits when it bites. The CDC signal that a person volition recover quicker if they begin antibody treatment soon after receiving the tick bite. Almost people make a complete recovery after finishing the antibody course.

A doc will prescribe oral antibiotics during the early stages of Lyme disease. For adults and children over 8 years of historic period, a doctor may prescribe a 10–21-day grade of doxycycline.

For younger children, and pregnant or women who are breastfeeding, a md may prescribe a xiv–21-day course of amoxicillin or cefuroxime.

If the disease involves the cardinal nervous system, a doctor may prescribe intravenous antibiotics for 14–28 days. While this method is constructive, it tin can pb to side effects and complications, such equally:

  • diarrhea
  • reduced white blood prison cell count
  • infection from bacteria unrelated to Lyme disease

Lyme disease is a blazon of bacterial infection. Co-ordinate to the CDC, the leaner Borrelia burgdorferi causes near cases of Lyme disease, while Borrelia mayonii is responsible for others.

Blacklegged, or deer, ticks, carry the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, and the ticks tin can spread it to humans and animals. A tick must remain attached to the peel for at to the lowest degree 36 hours to infect a person.

Tick bites are most common in the warmer months of spring and summertime when ticks are almost active.

Most tick bites resemble a small-scale crash-land on the skin. If the tick does not carry the infection, the bump should disappear inside a few days.

Some people who get Lyme disease may develop a characteristic bullseye rash. Doctors refer to this rash as erythema migrans. The rash may feel warm when a person touches information technology but is rarely painful or itchy. Not everyone who is bitten by an infected tick develops the bullseye rash.

Without treatment, Lyme illness may progress through three stages:

  • early localized
  • early disseminated
  • belatedly disseminated

Each stage may trigger dissimilar symptoms. Nevertheless, the stages can overlap, and some symptoms are common to all 3.

Stage 1: Early localized Lyme disease

Stage 1 or early localized Lyme disease occurs 1–28 days post-obit a tick bite.

Some people with stage i Lyme disease exercise not experience any symptoms. If symptoms exercise occur, they may include the following:

  • a peel rash that may or may not resemble a bulls-centre
  • influenza-similar illness, including chills and a fever
  • fatigue
  • a headache and potent neck
  • swollen lymph nodes

Stage ii: Early disseminated Lyme affliction

If stage 1 Lyme disease remains undiagnosed and untreated, it can progress to stage 2, or early disseminated, Lyme disease. This stage occurs 3–12 weeks after the initial tick seize with teeth.

The term disseminated indicates that the bacteria have spread throughout the torso. At this stage, the infection may affect the following tissues:

  • the pare
  • joints
  • nervous system
  • heart

A person who has progressed to stage 2 Lyme disease may develop new symptoms alongside those from phase 1. These new symptoms may include:

  • new rashes beyond the body
  • conjunctivitis or vision issues
  • swelling in large joints, such every bit the knee joint
  • hurting, weakness, or loss of awareness in the arms or legs
  • facial paralysis (Bell's palsy)
  • heart palpitations and breast pain
  • dizziness
  • shortness of breath
  • poor retentivity and concentration

Stage 3: Late disseminated Lyme disease

Stage 3 or belatedly disseminated Lyme disease is the terminal stage of the illness. A person may enter this stage if they did non receive handling for Lyme affliction in the early stages, or if their symptoms persisted despite handling. As such, doctors sometimes refer to this phase as chronic or post-handling Lyme affliction (PTLDS).

Phase iii Lyme disease tin can occur months or years subsequently an infected tick bites a person.

A person with stage 3 Lyme affliction may experience additional symptoms, including:

  • severe articulation pain and swelling, known every bit chronic Lyme arthritis
  • heart palpitations or irregular heartbeat, due to Lyme carditis
  • inflammation of the brain and spinal cord
  • mental fogginess
  • severe fatigue

The National Wellness Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom states that two types of blood tests tin can aid diagnose Lyme disease. These tests detect specific antibodies that develop in response to Borrelia burgdorferi or Borrelia mayonii.

However, antibodies can take several weeks to develop. If a person has just recently received a tick bite, a blood test may return a negative result despite the presence of bacteria in the bloodstream.

If a person'due south symptoms persist despite a negative test result, their md may repeat the blood test a calendar week or two afterwards.

A pocket-sized number of people continue to experience symptoms of Lyme illness years afterward completing a course of antibiotic handling. These symptoms may include:

  • reduced free energy levels
  • tiredness and fatigue
  • body aches
  • problems with concentration and retentivity
  • difficulty sleeping

Lyme disease may too exacerbate existing wellness weather in some people.

Around 1 in every 100 people who develop Lyme illness go on to develop Lyme carditis. This occurs when the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease enter the heart muscle and interfere with the eye's electrical signaling.

This can lead to symptoms such every bit chest pain, heart palpitations, and center block resulting from a conduction abnormality. The CDC land that the vast bulk of people recover from Lyme carditis post-obit advisable antibody treatment; although it tin exist fatal, this is very rare.

The medical term for chronic Lyme disease is post-treatment Lyme affliction syndrome (PTLDS). A medico volition diagnose a person with PTLDS when they continue to experience symptoms of Lyme disease 6 months or more after finishing antibiotic treatment.

Around 10% of people who develop Lyme illness proceed to develop PTLDS. The condition tends to occur when there has been a delay between the initial infection and the antibiotic treatment.

Experts have non notwithstanding identified the exact cause of PTLDS. A 2015 review notes that an motorcar-allowed response in the body, which causes symptoms long after the infection has gone, may trigger it. A similar reaction sometimes occurs following other types of infection.

In that location is no specific treatment for PTLDS. Lengthy courses of antibiotics can crusade serious complications, so people may need to look for the status to resolve. Nigh people with PTLDS make a full recovery, although an article in Reumatologia indicates that it can accept months to feel completely well.

Ticks are most prevalent in wooded, grassy, or brushy areas and are most active between April and September.

There are certain precautions a person can take to foreclose existence bitten by a tick. These include:

  • using an insect repellent
  • wearing long pants and long sleeves when walking in tick-infested areas
  • keeping to the center of hiking trails, and avoiding walking through wooded, grassy, or brushy areas.
  • using a hand-held or full-length mirror to check the body for ticks afterward coming indoors
  • showering shortly afterwards coming indoors

The CDC recommend using insect repellents that contain one of the post-obit agile ingredients:

  • DEET
  • picaridin
  • IR3535
  • oil of lemon eucalyptus
  • para-menthane-diol
  • 2-undecanone

How to remove a tick

A tick must remain attached to the skin for at to the lowest degree 36 hours to spread Lyme disease. The best way of preventing Lyme disease is to remove a tick as before long as possible.

The blacklegged tick that spreads disease-causing leaner resembles a tiny spider. Young ticks are around the size of a poppy seed, while adult ticks are around the size of a sesame seed. Ticks of all ages are reddish-brown.

Beneath are some steps for tick removal.

  • Step 1: Use fine-tipped tweezers to gently grasp the tick nigh its head or mouth. Avoid squeezing the tick.
  • Stride ii: Using the tweezers, pull the tick advisedly and steadily abroad from the skin. Avert yanking or twisting the tick, every bit this could cause its mouthparts to remain in the peel.
  • Footstep iii: Subsequently removing the tick, dispose of it by putting it in some booze or flushing it down the toilet.
  • Pace 4: Use antiseptic to the tick seize with teeth.

A person should meet a doctor if they have recently received a tick bite. It is not possible to know whether a tick is carrying Lyme disease, and the symptoms may take weeks to appear.

The earlier a person receives a diagnosis and treatment, the higher the likelihood of a quick and complete recovery.

It is not always possible for a person to tell if a tick has bitten them. Every bit such, people should also meet a doctor if they experience any Lyme disease symptoms. A doctor will enquire about the person's symptoms and duration and whether the person has spent time in tick-infested areas.

Unremarkably, tick bites do not lead to Lyme disease. People who do develop Lyme disease often make a full recovery later taking a course of antibiotics.