Remedy for wicked tick reactions

[amber913]

A friend of mine has a son (about 6yo) who's having bad reactions to tick bites. He gets a swollen lump within only a few hours of the bite. He's been put on antibiotics and steroids for these bites, and considering they live in the woods, the bites happen fairly often. She's interested in some sort of natural remedy, so she doesn't have to keep giving him antibiotics and steroids. Any suggestions?

She'd heard of giving garlic pills, but doesn't know if that's ok for a child.

I'll be sending her this link so she can follow it. Thanks!

[kjbrown92]

Have they tried natural repellants and long sleeves and long pants and such? I'd be worried that he's getting that many tick bites, for one.

Last year, when DD2 got a tick bite in her hair, it swelled up and stayed swollen for 3-4 weeks. The ped said that some people are allergic to the anesthetic that the tic gives you when it bites you so that you don't feel it biting you. My DD2 also gets huge bites from mosquitos as well so I think it's the same type of reaction for her.

[Panserbjorne]

I would absolutely look into homeopathic ledum. Excellent for bites, especially tick bites. She can also think about vitamin C is higher doses fairly frequently following a bite.

[sbgrace]

My son is highly reactive too. I think the only thing to do is focus on bite prevention (we did get lyme/are they in a lyme endemic area? If so, this is even more imperative).

We did long pants, long white socks with long pants (khaki) tucked into them. The idea is they have a long crawl to get to the skin and you hopefully see them. Long sleeve light shirt tucked in (well, it started tucked in and he did pretty good remembering). And then I did http://www.bugband.net/bugband-store...cca173a49194e5 this stuff. I did it really heavy on his socks and outside of the pants, shirt, etc. I really think it all helped though we were toward the end of our season when I figured it all out.

[aec9804]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I going to check out the bug band spray. Regarding the long pants and shirts, how do you get your child to wear them everyday during the summer. We live in the woods and being 6 he is consantly outside and it hit 90 today. I am going to try garlic pills and tea tree oil mixed with water in a spray bottle. Both are a better alternative then the chemicals.

[sbgrace]

Originally Posted by aec9804

Thanks for all the suggestions. I going to check out the bug band spray. Regarding the long pants and shirts, how do you get your child to wear them everyday during the summer. We live in the woods and being 6 he is consantly outside and it hit 90 today. I am going to try garlic pills and tea tree oil mixed with water in a spray bottle. Both are a better alternative then the chemicals.

Welcome to MDC!

We were toward the end of heavy tick season here when I started all this but it was still warm. We mostly did morning/evening play--avoiding the hottest parts of the day (it was 80 degrees here at 8 pm today so we, too, have a heat factor). With the bug band stuff mosquitoes (he reacts to those too) weren't much a factor as they would have been at those times of day. I got the thinnest material I could find (long sleeve light material t-shirts, thin pants). He did balk. I told him that he had to so he didn't get more bites or he needed to stay inside. After the lyme episode I just couldn't have him get any more bites so it really wasn't an option in my mind. However, I never found a tick on him after I started that bug band stuff. Again, though, we were at the end of the heavy season. You could also try having him come in frequently for tick checks. Maybe that way if he does get them you can catch it before they attach...

[Skim]

I second homeopathic ledum. It's not expensive and will last quite a while, plus it won't harm him.

We, too, live right next to the woods and have indoor/outdoor pets, the kids are home all day and in and out. Plus it's a lyme-endemic area. Ticks are a huge fact of life here.

We tick check all day long, outside clothes never go in the bedroom on the floor during tick season; dog gets checked every time she comes in; cat too; tick check at night and in the morning, too if possible.

[Penny4Them]

Thanks for sharing this info. I was getting ready to ask a similar question for my 7 yo Dd.

I have a vial in Washington kit but it's 30c ... is that optimal concentration? If not, where can I purchase a single vial and what c would be best?

TIA!

[mbravebird]

Originally Posted by aec9804

Thanks for all the suggestions. I going to check out the bug band spray. Regarding the long pants and shirts, how do you get your child to wear them everyday during the summer. We live in the woods and being 6 he is consantly outside and it hit 90 today. I am going to try garlic pills and tea tree oil mixed with water in a spray bottle. Both are a better alternative then the chemicals.

If you're wanting a repellent, the best is really Rose Geranium Oil. You'll have to order it online, most likely. Mix a tsp of the oil with a tsp of alcohol and 4oz of water, and put in a spray bottle. It works really, really well at repelling ticks.

I get allergic- like reactions to the bites, too -- both mosquito and tick. I just discovered bentonite clay, and plan on keeping that around for bites this year. It's supposed to be great for eliminating the skin reaction.

[Skim]

Originally Posted by Penny4Them

Thanks for sharing this info. I was getting ready to ask a similar question for my 7 yo Dd.

I have a vial in Washington kit but it's 30c ... is that optimal concentration? If not, where can I purchase a single vial and what c would be best?

TIA!

Looks like no one replied to this question, so I will. We use 30C ledum for tick bites.

[Panserbjorne]

30C is best for the initial stages. I would always give 30C for a suspected or known bite. Once it's a chronic situation, or if you missed the bite and lyme has developed then the answer is different. At least for me.

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by mbravebird

If you're wanting a repellent, the best is really Rose Geranium Oil. You'll have to order it online, most likely. Mix a tsp of the oil with a tsp of alcohol and 4oz of water, and put in a spray bottle. It works really, really well at repelling ticks.

That spray sounds great.