This is a stupid question, but I just got something off my son's neck, and I don't know what it was.
I told him to come to me because I could see he had gum in his hair, and when he got to me, I saw a tiny black spot on his neck.
I tried to brush it off, but it wouldn't come off. Of course, the first thing I thought was I hope it's not a tick.
I pulled it off and tried to see what it was, but I really couldn't make out what it was--it was just a little black thing about the size of one of the colon dots on this page. I couldn't see any legs, and it laid flat on his skin; it definitely wasn't an *engorged* tick if it was a tick.
When I finally got it off, there was a little smear of blood--I don't know if he poked himself with something and just had like a pinprick that was bleeding and scabbed over or if it was a tick.
I wanted to take it in to show my husband, but my son bumped me and I lost it.
There was a tiny bump there after I got the thing off, so I don't know if it was a bite or just from me pulling on his skin.
Will definitely watch for a rash or anything. He's on an antibiotic (Amoxyl) right now for bronchitis, so I'm hoping that maybe that will ward off any problems.
Posted by laura j (Member # 14257) on :
There's no way to know for sure but it very well could have been a tick.
The one on me that got me sick was that tiny. I pulled it off with my fingers which is probably why it got me sick even though it wasn't engorged b/c I probably squeezed the contents of it's gut into myself (gross!).
I also pulled one that tiny off of my daughter. I couldn't see the legs on either one of the ticks without a magnifying glass. I thought the one on my daughter was a speck of sand and I kept trying to brush it off and it wouldn't come off. It was an attached tick. Could not believe how tiny. I gave her antibiotics to be on the safe side.
Posted by lymebytes (Member # 11830) on :
I have been through things like this because I am so "tick-aware". Not long ago I had a black dot on me - I mean a dot and I couldn't tell what it was either.
I also recently scraped a black dot off my dogs face that could have been a tick. I just don't know.
Ticks can be the size of a period (.) I just don't know how we stay 100% safe or know if something that small is a tick or not.
I honestly don't know what to say except, been there.
Here is a picture of a nymph - you can google more:
you mention...that you will look for a rash thing. a percentage of people do not get a rash. please keep this in mind.
Posted by Starfall1969 (Member # 17353) on :
I know most do not get a rash, but I just know I will be extra vigilant about anything that pops up on him.
I'm just hoping the abx he's on now will be enough to keep anything from taking hold.