Health Tip: Safely Remove a Tick

(HealthDay News) — Promptly and safely removing a tick from your skin can help reduce the risk of illness and complications.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers these guidelines for removing a tick:

Using a pair of fine-tipped tweezers, grasp the tick as closely as possible to the surface of the skin.
Pulling upward steadily and evenly (never jerking or twisting), gently remove the entire tick.
If the mouth parts remain in the skin, try to remove with the tweezers. If you can’t remove the remaining pieces, leave them alone and allow the skin to heal.
Use rubbing alcohol, iodine scrub or water and soap to thoroughly cleanse the wound once the tick is removed.
Dispose of the tick in a container of rubbing alcohol, wrapping up in tape, placing in a sealed bag or flushing it down a toilet.