Tick Bite Symptoms

Tick bites are generally painless. Many people may not even notice the bite and may never find the tick if it falls off. Small ticks, like the deer tick that transmits Lyme disease, are so tiny they may be nearly undetectable. Some ticks are about as small as the period at the end of this sentence.

The actual bite may cause symptoms only after the tick drops off. You may notice local redness, itching, burning, and rarely, localized intense pain (soft ticks). The results of the illnesses transmitted by ticks often begin days to weeks after the tick is gone. That's why doctors may not suspect a tick-related illness. The most important clue about any tick-related illness is to tell the physician about a tick bite. Also, tell your physician if you have been outdoors (camping, hiking, etc.) in tick-infested areas even if you do not remember a tick bite.

After a tick bite, individuals may develop any of these symptoms that may be due to the pathogen(s) that the tick transmits during its bite:

• feeling as if you have the flu,



• fever,



• numbness,



• rash,



• confusion,



• weakness,



• pain and swelling in joints,



• palpitations,



• shortness of breath, and



• nausea and vomiting.