What Is Lyme Disease And How To Treat It

Lyme disease can be described as an illness that is derived from the bite of a tick. This disease is quite common in several parts of Northern America, as well as Europe. It is caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium, which are normally harbored and transmitted by the deer. The disease carrying tick thrive in grassy and heavily wooded areas and therefore, people who spend a lot of time in such areas are quite prone to Lyme disease. While these ticks could settle just about anywhere on the human body, they favor areas that are moist and dark, like the armpits or the crotch. Once a tick finds a place on the body, it starts drawing up blood, through its probe. The host, carrying the tick, gets further exposed to a lot of other infections.

Lyme disease symptoms

It is not easy to know when you have been bitten, even though there are various lyme disease symptoms. These symptoms include some changes that affect the joints, skin, heart and the nervous system. It may be important to visit a doctor, in case you notice symptoms, such as:

• A red spot that develops near the location of the bite. The spot grows bigger gradually and turns pale in the middle. These spots are known as Erythema Migrans. At times the Erythema Migrans may also appear in places that have not been bitten by the tick. They could take anywhere between one and four weeks to appear.

• At times, Lyme disease is accompanied by the symptoms of influenza, which include mild fever, drowsiness and headaches.

• Muscle pain, joint pain and swollen lymph glands may also occur in some cases.

Lyme disease treatments

Fortunately the disease is not very serious and lyme disease treatments are readily available. Most lyme disease treatments are more effective, if applied in the earlier stages. Lyme disease treatments include over-the-counter medicines, therapies like water therapy (Hydrotherapy) and food therapy, as well as the use of antibiotics (oral or intravenous). Oral antibiotics which help treat lyme disease are amoxicillin cefuroxime or doxycycline and the course could last between 10 and 20 days. The antibiotic dosage recommended could change from one person to another, based on age, weight and medical history. Lyme disease treatments in the advanced stage may last between 15 and 30 days.

Lyme disease prevention

Prevention is much better than cure and Lyme disease is no exception to this saying. Lyme disease prevention is quite possible, just by following a few simple steps:

• When outdoors, ensure that your skin isn’t exposed to the air and that you wear long trousers and sleeves all the time. Gloves and a hat are also very effective, if you are working outdoors.

• Be careful when handling leaves that may have fallen, as they may harbor deer ticks.

• Apply an insect repellent to your skin, as well as your clothing to kill germs.