Mum’s urgent warning after shocking discovery on her daughter’s ear: ‘She thought it was a pimple, but it clearly wasn’t!’
A mother is urging parents to carefully examine their children’s skin after initially dismissing the seriousness of what appeared to be a spot behind her daughter’s ear.
After taking a closer look, mom Megan Sullivan discovered it was a tick stuck on her daughter’s skin, under the back of an earring.
“So the ticks are out,” she said in a post that resurfaced on social media.
“I know a lot of parents check on their kids, but there’s one place I’ve never checked before. If your child has earrings, look behind the backs.
A social media post from a mother who discovered a tick behind her daughter’s earring has resurfaced – as Australia heads into tick season
After discovering a tick behind her daughter’s earring, mum Megan Sullivan is being warned to ‘thoroughly check’ areas on their children’s skin where they might not look.
‘(My daughter) thought it was a pimple and it clearly wasn’t! I took the earrings out before the photos. Check thoroughly!!’
The warning serves as a reminder to parents that “ticks can appear anywhere,” and to be especially vigilant during the spring and summer months when their activity is at its peak.
Ticks are spider-like parasites that feed on the blood of the human or animal they cling to.
They range from reddish to black in color and can be as small as a poppy seed or as large as a baked bean.
There are more than 70 different species of ticks in Australia and they are most common on the east coast of Australia
Tick season in Australia kicked off in September, with the arachnids on the rise during the country’s warmer months.
A species of tick called Ixodes holofiets can be found along the east coast of Australia and can cause tick paralysis, tick typhus and severe allergic reactions – which can be fatal.
Although there is no evidence that Lyme disease is caused by Australian ticks, there may be other infections carried by Australian ticks that can cause an infection similar to Lyme disease. These infections remain poorly characterized.
Signs of diseases caused by ticks include rash, headache, fever, flu-like symptoms, tenderness, unsteady gait, intolerance to bright light, increased weakness of the limbs and facial paralysis.
Experts say the best way to remove a tick is to freeze the area with an ether-containing spray that can be purchased at a pharmacy.
“We need to remove ticks without pinching or irritating them,” Australian safety and first aid page CPR Kids explained after sharing Ms Sullivan’s post on Monday.
‘If you use tick removers, metho, tea tree oil or other tick removers that can remove the tick, but they inject allergen-containing saliva when removed that way.
‘If you remove the tick without freezing the area, you run the risk of people developing a condition called mammal meat allergy, where people bitten by ticks develop a severe allergy to certain types of meat.’
Parents who notice tics first freeze them with ether-containing spray, available at pharmacies
Tick bites are most common during the warmer months, when conditions are warm and humid (stock image)
Dr. Mualla McManus told Daily Mail Australia that people often did not initially realize they had had a tick bite because the insects are extremely small and release an anesthetic when they bite, meaning it is not felt.
“If you see little black dots on you, if you can, get a magnifying glass and look at it – it looks like the dot of a pin,” she said.
“You may not even be aware of it.”
She said people who spend time near the coast or in areas with dense bush often suffer from tick bites.
Ticks can sense when people are nearby by detecting carbon dioxide, she added.
Dr. McManus recommended wearing light-coloured clothing when at the beach or walking near bushlands so he can easily spot ticks, but warned there was no guaranteed way to avoid them.