# Tick Bite aftermath?



## Vizsla_Luka (Sep 8, 2015)

I found a tick under Luka's right ear, a tiny thing, I believe it was a deer tick, lucky I found it.

I removed it using O'Tom's tick removal tool about 2/3 weeks ago but I'm afraid that I left a leg or possibly its head ( :'() in the bite wound. I can now feel a lump pretty much exactly where I found the tick. I think the lump is getting slightly bigger too, and I feel like he's scratching at it more and more. He's not scratching non-stop, but more than he normally would.

Is there some home remedies that I can try to ease this/ get what ever that is lodged in there out? Otherwise I will have the vet take a look at it next week as he's going in for a hip score test.

Thanks in advance!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Not uncommon for a tick bite to leave a bump, even if you got the whole tick removed.
From personal experience, when one has gotten on me. Tick bites itch for a week or two.
I would leave the site alone, and let it heal naturally. At most maybe put some cortisone cream on it to cut down on the scratching. Thats what I do if one gets on me, but I still catch myself scratching it. 
I hate those things, and it best to just use something to try keep them off in the first place.


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## Bob Engelhardt (Feb 14, 2012)

Ticks have really weird anatomy - their head doesn't resemble anything that most of us are familiar with. The important thing is that only a very small part (the hypostome) actually penetrates the skin. The hypostome might be called its tongue if you really stretch the definition of tongue.

So, if something stays behind when a tick is removed, it's "only" the hypostome. You would have to examine the tick under a microscope to tell if the hypostome is missing. When removing embedded ticks, I often feel a little snap, which I assume is the hypostome breaking off.

I would go farther than TR & say that there is always a bump left when a tick is removed. More so on the dogs than on me. And it does last quite a while. The body is probably growing new skin under the bite to dispose of it by sloughing it off.

We get enough bites, even with using repellent, that we couldn't afford having the vet treat them.

Bob


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## Vizsla_Luka (Sep 8, 2015)

Thanks TR and Bob,

that reassures me!

**** ticks!!


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