Running Hazards and Safety Tips: Avoiding Tick Bites
Dear A & H…With spring half-way over, the countdown to summer has officially started. ت But, for all the excitement this time of the year brings, I was delivered an unwelcome reality check this past week of the great outdoors’ many hazards. The most distressing was in my hair! 😯
Summer’s in the Air
Here in the northern hemisphere, it’s been noticeable since March.
As afternoon turns into evening, surely no one has missed the sun staying out longer and longer before calling it a night.
YEA!
Summer’s definitely around the corner.
And, as if to offer a tease, I could feel summer’s fingerprints almost every day this past week where I live…
The sky’s been overcast, filled with fluffy clouds of gray and white.
The wind, with its charming Arctic bite, is constant and dependable.
Yep, summer is truly almost here.
Well, that’s at least how summer is on the Central Coast in California.
And, if you visit Monterey, a town not too far from where I live, please bring a jacket.
Monterey Peninsula, for future framing. Just too funny.
Yes, the professional photographs of this area are pretty, with that blue sky and inviting Pacific but, don’t be deceived, it’s a ploy to increase souvenir sweatshirt sales. 😎
Of course, we do have pretty days like the ones found on postcards but, most likely, they were taken some time not during summer.
Though the following is a 'fake' Mark Twain quote, it's true in spirit: 'The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.' True, that.
In spite of the cold, longer days more than make up for always having to dress in layers.
Especially for trail runners.
Blessed Days
Truly, the stuff that can get done when the sun is out until after 8 pm…
…running while the sun’s still up after a typical workday…
…longer days to get totally spent on the weekend…
Ahh, blessed days!
But, for all this wonderful goodness, caution can never be thrown to the wind when venturing into wild places. Thanks to the bounty of Spring, with her generous and giving nature, we have to remember that she shows no deference to any of her creations. She disperses all, whether fair, homely or dangerous, equitably.
So, while pretty flowers can grace our path one moment…
The next might have prickly and pokey plants delightfully eyeing exposed skin.
Likewise, this innocent looking plant just longs for the gentle brush of any of your exposed body parts.
Outside of plants, real scariness is found literally “outside” of plants.
Stop Bugging Me: Ticks
Being out on the trails, it’s anyone’s guess what might cross your path.
There could be bunnies or coyotes in the distance one moment then, literally, hawks coasting within feet the next.
Even rattlesnakes…
Even this little lady…
Ticks, according to the definition at Merriam-Webster.com, are:
Any of a superfamily (Ixodoidea) of bloodsucking acarid arachnids that are larger than the related mites, attach themselves to warm-blooded vertebrates to feed, and include important vectors of infectious diseases.
Which is the frightening part when crossing paths with these small creatures, the risk of catching any of 16 diseases which they are known to carry. If you’re curious, a brief description of these 16 diseases can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
Focusing on just one of them, Lyme disease, though the incidence is greatest in the Northeast, each state is not immune to disease incidence as this map clearly shows.
Avoiding Tick Bites When Outdoors
For trail runners, the following few precautions are minimal but effective measures to prevent ticks, whether they be male or female, adult or nymph, from latching on to your body, biting, and potentially transmitting disease.
(1) Run along the center of trails: Ticks linger on plants that might brush up against a warm-blooded meal. Whether this meal is animal or human matters little to a tick, once latched on, food is food. Note: Ticks don’t jump. You need to physically brush up against one for it to latch onto you.
(2) Check for ticks: Anytime you pass through a particularly narrow length of a trail where you can’t help but brush up against plants lining the trail, move quickly and stop as soon as the trail widens to check for ticks. Checking at frequent intervals this way will allow the spotting and easily brushing off of ticks that haven’t yet latched on to start a meal.
For ticks that have already latched on, this simple tool, which can be easily carried in a shoulder or waist pack, can be used to pry them off.
(3) Shower after returning from your run: If you’ve already been bitten, showering will help fight infection but can’t prevent disease. In addition, showering will help wash away unnoticed ticks that haven’t latched on and difficult to see young nymphs.
(4) Watch for symptoms: If you have symptoms such as those for Lyme disease below, only one of several diseases transmitted by ticks, and know you have been bitten or were in an area known to have ticks in the past month, visit your doctor.
Symptoms of Lyme disease:
- Early signs include a “bull’s-eye rash,” fever, chills, headaches, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, and aching muscles and joints.
- Later symptoms include severe headaches, joint pain, swelling, facial palsy, heart issues, dizziness, brain and spinal-cord inflammation, numb or tingling hands and problems with short-term memory.
(5) Toss clothes in the dryer: After returning from the outdoors, tumbling clothes in a dryer set on high for 10 minutes will help kill ticks lingering in the folds of fabric.
While this last recommendation has its merits, I don’t see many runners putting dirty and sweaty clothes in a dryer. (I know I haven’t and won’t for hygienic reasons.) Even if clothes are relatively clean and non-sweaty, high heat harms fabric used in athletic wear. This being the case, it would be prudent for trail runners to place dirty workout clothes in an isolated area away from pets and/or kids until they can be laundered.
Want to Know More About Avoiding Tick Bites?
More information can be found in this article, including a helpful and informative video. Though the intended audience is Vermonters, since this is bonafide tick country, the recommendations offered are based on much experience and helpful no matter where you live.
If you’re curious about tick counts in your county (for US residents), take a look at this CDC Excel spreadsheet.
That’s It For Now
With summer around the corner and calling for us to head for the hills, trail runners gladly heed the call. The clean air and earthy smells revive our spirit and, though we come away from each adventure at a height of sweat and smell only other fellow runners can appreciate and applaud, we’re better for each single one of these adventures.
Just use common sense and take simple precautions while out on the trail to protect your health. With regard to ticks, a simple skin check every now and then will help prevent this little critter…
…from modifying your big summer (and beyond) plans.
Much love, O.M.
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P.P.S. No spam ever. Staying away from processed is a healthy thing to do. 🙂
