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Comment by wes-k | Hacker News Reader

I live in TN which fortunately doesn’t have Lyme carrying ticks but other bad things like Rocky Mountain spotted fever and alpha gal (allergy to meat thanks to the lone star tick).

There are several precautions we take every time we go camping or hiking during tick season:

1. Spray permethrin on shoes and ankles.

2. Tuck pants into socks.

3. Leg tick checks during + full body check when we get home and for next two days.

4. Toss all clothes in the drier. The heat kills them. Do not wash first!

5. Shower with T/gel. Still not fully tested but we heard this will kill them!

So far I’ve had a few cases of an attached tick but nothing longer than half a day of exposure. Bleh!!

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TN absolutely has Lyme carrying ticks. In Tennessee, between 2004 and 2016, there were 5,950 tick-borne disease cases, according to CDC data.

While those number are not high, there are other reports that indicate the number of infected ticks in TN is growing. And considering that many cases of Lyme go undiagnosed in TN, it is likely that number could be substantially higher.

Be safe out there!

Yikes ty for the correction!!

Light clothes color is another one, makes it very easy to spot them and we found that is pretty effective as first barrier. I avoid permethrin personally because I'm not a fan of it's effect on aquatic life, but I wonder why you only spray shoes and ankles and not complete lower leg for instance? Just guesswork but if I'd count where I found ticks on my clothes in the past year it would be well over 50% lower and upper leg, much less around ankles and shoes. Could be they were all crawling up of course...

Yes he idea is that they get on you low and walk up. I’m not sure of the effect permethrin has on discouraging grabbing on vs walking up.

Besides the protection means (which are unfortunately necessary as some diseases [not lyme] transmit in minutes), a big problem is the nymphs which can be smaller than a poppy seed, and are the most likely of the tick lifecycle to transmit diseases. If you have a lot of little moles, these buggers are hard to spot: https://www.healthline.com/health/poppyseed-size-ticks-sprea...

I was living in TN when I got Lymes.

What's wrong with washing first? Does the water help them survive the dryer heat? Do they soften, loose, and escape?

No but it does create more opportunities for them to get around: left in washer, or on you when moving clothes from washer to dryer.

I have a washer-dryer. :-)

The lone star tick and alpha gal allergy is one of my favorite tick borne factoids I like to tell my peers. Just so happens I had a patient with an alpha gal allergy who had anaphylactic shock from a contaminated bun!

Do you find permethrin to be more effective than DEET? Or do you do it because it's safer.

Permethrin is vastly more effective than deet. It lasts for weeks, even across washes and kills basically any insect that touches the sprayed areas. Its so harmless to mammals(1) that ranchers spray it directly on cattle.

It is extremely toxic to marine life and indiscriminately kills insects including beneficial pollinating insects. Use with care.

(1) With some important exceptions, thanks to rileyphone for the reminder.

Please note that permethrin is still toxic to cats.

Indeed, so much so that if you have both a cat and a dog, you should not use the standard topical flea treatment on your dog (which contains permethrin) as enough may transfer to your cat to cause serious issues.

Permethrin and DEET have similar efficacies and the EPA says they're both safe to use. The main difference seems to be DEET is applied to the skin and permethrin is applied to clothing.

https://www.consumerreports.org/insect-repellent/how-deet-an...

My understanding is that DEET is a generally effective repellent -- but Permethrin is a highly effective insecticide and a generally effective repellent. It's also nice because you can generally treat a set of clothing with it and the treatment lasts for weeks at a time.

How are ticks getting onto you after 1-3? Crawling up to your waist?

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