Summer means a lot of pain, including in the form of tick-borne diseases.
How the bite looks in the event of an infection can look very different from person to person.
– About half of those with Lyme disease have not noticed the tick, says Viveca Gyberg, specialist doctor in general medicine.
Many Swedes already work preventively before going out into the woods and fields to avoid ticks, for example by wearing long trousers and boots. But how should you think if you are bitten after all?
Viveca Gyberg, a specialist doctor in general medicine, tells Nyhetsmorgon that many people contact the health care service during the summer to find out if they have contracted Lyme disease, a bacterial disease that is spread by ticks and that can develop serious illness if it is not treated.
Five centimeters
Most people do not experience any symptoms or problems at all and do not notice that they have been infected. It is therefore important to keep track.
– Look at the body! Take help from someone who is watching you, urges Viveca Gyberg.
In healthcare, the so-called “5-5 rule” is often applied. This means that five days after the bite there must be redness around the bite that is at least five centimeters in diameter for Lyme disease to be suspected.
– Then we usually think it’s Lyme disease. Otherwise, it’s probably just a normal bite reaction.
Some are not visible
But the way the bite looks during an infection looks very different from person to person. For those people who have more pigment in their skin, a Lyme ring can be greyish or purplish, while on fair skin it is often more towards red.
– But even there we see a big difference. The ring can be pale pink, almost imperceptible, to more purplish brown.
Viveca Gyberg states that it is important to be observant in the weeks after a bite, but also in general if you stay in tick-rich environments. Many people with Lyme disease have not noticed that they have had a tick.
Recommends the “pen trick”
If you find a bite, keep an eye on the redness. Viveca Gyberg and her medical colleagues recommend the so-called “pen trick”.
– Then you take an ordinary ink pen and draw around the skin, to see if the ring has grown. These rings grow slowly. If the ring grows, it is a very sure sign of Lyme disease.