Ticks can bite you almost anywhere outdoors, including wooded trails, grassy yards, and gardens. A bite may be painless, so you might not notice a tick until it attaches.
Taking precautions before, during, and after outdoor activities greatly reduces your exposure to tick bites and tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease.
You can lower your risk by using EPA-registered repellent, wearing protective clothing, avoiding dense vegetation, and checking your body, clothing, gear, and pets as soon as you come indoors.
If you find an attached tick, remove it promptly with fine-tipped tweezers and watch for symptoms afterward.
Build Your Best Defense Before Going Outdoors
Your strongest protection starts before you step outside. Choose a proven insect repellent, prepare treated gear, and cover exposed skin with light-colored clothing that makes ticks easier to spot.
Choose Repellents That Work on Skin
Select an Environmental Protection Agency-registered insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, para-menthane-diol, or 2-undecanone. Follow the product label for application and reapplication, and apply sunscreen before repellent if you use both.
DEET and picaridin are common choices for exposed skin. Do not use products containing OLE or PMD on children younger than 3 years.
Treat Clothing and Gear With Permethrin
Treat boots, clothing, and camping gear with a product containing 0.5% permethrin, or buy items labeled as permethrin-treated. Permethrin-treated fabric remains protective through several washings, though you should follow the product instructions carefully.
Do not apply permethrin directly to your skin. Use it only on clothing and gear as directed on the label.
Dress to Block Ticks
Wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts, socks, and closed-toe shoes when you expect exposure. Tuck pant legs into socks when practical, and choose light-colored clothing so crawling ticks stand out more clearly.
Protective clothing creates a physical barrier, especially around your ankles, waist, wrists, and neck. Pair it with repellent rather than relying on clothing alone.
Avoid Places Where Ticks Wait
Ticks commonly live in grassy, brushy, and wooded areas, particularly among tall grass and leaf litter. You can lower contact by choosing open routes, keeping vegetation managed, and limiting time in tick habitats.
Make Safer Choices While Hiking
When hiking, camping, or walking a dog, stay in the center of marked trails instead of brushing against tall grass or dense vegetation. Avoid sitting directly on leaf litter, fallen logs, or the edges of wooded areas when you have another option.
Ticks do not jump or fly. They often wait on vegetation and attach when you brush past, so reducing contact with plants reduces your exposure.
Lower Exposure During Gardening
Gardening can bring you into tick habitat close to home. Wear repellent and protective clothing, keep gloves and shoes on, and inspect yourself before coming indoors.
Take extra care around tall grass, shrubs, woodpiles, and leaf litter. A shower within two hours of coming inside may wash off unattached ticks and gives you a useful opportunity for a tick check.
Reduce Tick Habitat Around Your Yard
Mow lawns regularly, clear tall grass and brush near the house, and remove leaf litter. A three-foot barrier of wood chips or gravel between lawns and wooded areas can help limit tick movement into frequently used spaces.
Keep playground equipment, patios, and decks away from lawn edges and trees when possible. Neatly stack firewood in a dry location, remove yard clutter, and discourage deer and other wildlife from entering your property.
Check, Clean Up, and Remove Ticks Quickly
A careful routine after outdoor activity can catch ticks before they attach or before they remain attached for a long time. Check your body, children, clothing, gear, and pets, then remove any attached tick safely.
Do a Thorough Tick Check
Inspect your entire body after spending time outdoors, including your own yard. Use a hand mirror or ask someone to check areas you cannot see easily.
Pay close attention to your scalp and hairline, behind and inside your ears, under your arms, around your waist, inside your belly button, between your legs, and behind your knees. Check children carefully, since ticks can be tiny and a bite may not hurt.
Handle Clothes, Gear, and Pets
Examine coats, shoes, backpacks, and outdoor equipment before you bring them inside. Put dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes, or longer if needed for damp items.
If you wash clothing first, use hot water because cold and medium-temperature water may not kill ticks. Check dogs and other pets after outdoor activity, especially around the ears, collar, toes, and between the legs.
Pets can carry ticks into your home, so use veterinarian-recommended tick control.
Remove an Attached Tick Safely
Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to your skin as possible. Pull upward with steady, even pressure, then clean the bite area and your hands with soap and water or alcohol.
Do not twist, crush, burn, or cover the tick with petroleum jelly. If mouthparts remain and you cannot remove them easily, clean the area and seek medical advice.
The CDC Tick Bite Guide can help you decide what to do next.
Know When a Tick Bite Needs Medical Attention
Most tick bites do not lead to illness, yet symptoms can appear days or weeks after exposure. Note when and where the bite occurred, save a photo of the tick if possible, and contact a healthcare professional if you develop concerning symptoms.
Watch for Early Signs of Illness
Contact a healthcare professional if you develop fever, flu-like symptoms, headache, unusual fatigue, joint pain, or a spreading rash after a tick bite. A rash is not present in every illness, so do not wait for one if you feel unwell.
Seek prompt care for trouble breathing, facial weakness, severe headache, confusion, chest discomfort, or a rapidly worsening reaction. Tell the clinician where you were, when you noticed the tick, and how long it may have been attached.
Understand Diseases Linked to Ticks
Different ticks transmit different tick-borne illnesses.
Lyme disease may cause a spreading rash, fever, fatigue, headache, and joint pain.
Rocky Mountain spotted fever can become serious quickly. It may involve fever, headache, rash, nausea, or muscle pain.
Some tick bites can also lead to alpha-gal syndrome, an allergy to a carbohydrate found in certain mammal products.
If you experience delayed hives, stomach symptoms, swelling, or breathing problems after eating red meat or consuming dairy products, seek medical attention, especially if breathing is affected.
