Don't Let a Tick Bite Ruin Your Summer
Imagine heading to the eye doctor because you feel like a sharp piece of metal is scratching your eye...
As an ophthalmologist, I removed my fair share of foreign objects from my patients' eyes back during my practicing days. But one bizarre case study from the American Academy of Ophthalmology gave even me the shivers...
A 28-year-old naval officer came into a clinic with relatively normal vision – save for a tiny, dark speck embedded in the white of his left eye. He reported irritation that worsened every time he moved his eye.
His doctor couldn't remove the foreign body, so he was referred to the ophthalmology department. Upon examination through a high-powered microscope, the mystery object wasn't a piece of metal...
They found a live tick.
Doctors were able to remove the tick, and the patient recovered without contracting an infection.
While finding a tick on the eyeball is the stuff of nightmares, these tiny bloodsuckers are responsible for far more common – and dangerous – health threats...
Tick-borne diseases have been rising at an alarming rate in the U.S. You likely already know about Lyme disease, but ticks also transmit a grim roster of other maladies...
- Lyme disease: The most common tick-borne illness in the U.S., where it can cause flu-like symptoms and the bull's-eye rash. If left untreated, the disease can spread to your heart, nervous system, and joints.
- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: If untreated with antibiotics within the first few days, it can severely damage your organs.
- Anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis: These bacterial infections, which are transmitted by blacklegged and lone star ticks, can cause severe muscle aches, fever, and sometimes life-threatening respiratory or bleeding complications.
- Babesiosis: Blacklegged ticks can transmit this infection that attacks and destroys blood cells, and it can be fatal for the elderly or immunocompromised.
- Alpha-gal syndrome: Triggered by the bite of the lone star tick, this condition can cause a severe allergy to red meat and dairy.
Plenty of folks know that ticks love lurking in the woods (more on that in a moment), in the countryside, and on the edges of suburbs.
But city dwellers aren't safe either...
Don't think for a second that you're safe in the concrete jungle. According to a Finnish study published in January, people in cities can get tick-borne diseases from any urban green spaces like parks and public gardens, too.
Finnish researchers collected ticks from five cities from 2019 to 2020 and found that 43% of adult and 22% of young ticks carried a tick-borne pathogen. (Called nymphs, the young ticks are especially dangerous because of their small, poppy-seed-like size.)
Your No. 1 Defense Against Tick-borne Diseases
No matter where you live, the simplest defense against ticks is to prevent bites. Let's go over some of my favorite tips to help you do just that...
Know your surroundings.
Most ticks live in wooded areas and high grass. If your yard is a high-traffic zone for deer, you'll find ticks even if you mow regularly and remove grass clippings promptly.
Along with venturing into urban green spaces like I mentioned earlier, hitchhiking ticks also pose a danger to city dwellers. Specifically, ticks also hitchhike on other animals like mice and rats, which means even cities aren't safe from these pests. Make sure to keep your yard free of trash to discourage visits from wildlife looking for food or shelter.
Don't stray from that path.
Ticks love lurking in "edge habitats." Examples include the border between a trimmed lawn and a wooded area and the sides of a trail or sidewalk that have tall brush. Also included are ground-cover plants like ivy, pachysandra, and creeping thyme, to name a few.
Some health officials recommend making a backyard "moat" if you have a forest near your backyard. Just spread some wood chips between the woods and your yard to create a border that's a couple of feet wide.
As for two more unexpected tick hotspots, there are stone walls and woodpiles. The small crevices serve as dark and moist lairs for ticks and mice. So remember to wear protective clothing or check your skin after working near piles of stone and/or wood.
A tick's quest.
It sounds like the title of a charming Disney/Pixar movie. But it's far from cute... Questing is the term for when these tiny parasites climb up on plants and perch there, with their front legs up in the air and ready to grab onto a passing deer or your pants leg.
Also, the particularly aggressive lone star tick can scramble up that blade of grass three times faster than a blacklegged tick. That's another reason why it's so important to avoid tick terrain and do skin checks as soon as possible after your excursion.
Speaking of skin checks, ticks love moist, dark spots. So don't forget to investigate the nooks and crannies of your body. Here are some common tick hideouts:
- Behind and in the ears
- Armpits
- Belly button
- Groin
- Behind the knees
- Between your toes
- Between folds of skin
- Scalp
Break out the vacuum...
Believe it or not, ticks can hang out in your living room for nearly a month.
In a recent study, Ohio State University researchers tested how long lone star and Gulf Coast ticks can go without food and survive on common home flooring like wood, carpet, vinyl, and tile.
The result? Gulf Coast and lone star ticks survived an average of 18 and 11 days, respectively. Some ticks survived for a whopping 25 days on vinyl flooring.
Protect yourself and your family by regularly vacuuming the floor. If you're in a tick-heavy area, consider emptying the canister or tossing the vacuum bag into an outside trash can so the ticks can't crawl right back out.
Also, establish a tick-security checkpoint right at your front door...
If you've been traipsing through tick hotspots like woods or tall grass, do the tick check I mentioned as soon as you get inside.
Then take a shower and wash your clothes (or toss them in the dryer on high heat for at least 10 to 15 minutes). And if you have pets that go outdoors, check them as well.
Keep my preventive measures in mind to avoid tick-borne diseases, no matter where you go.
Got any tick tips? Send 'em over to feedback@healthandwealthbulletin.com.
P.S. According to a 2025 study, hospitalizations for tick-borne diseases skyrocketed, more than doubling between 2002 and 2021. Worse, the average cost of a hospital stay increased from $9,433 to $35,161. Unexpected medical bills like these are a big threat to your retirement savings. And it's a topic I recently covered in Retirement Millionaire. (Grab a trial subscription here.)
What We're Reading...
- Something different: Peak tick season brings deadly "bobcat fever" threat to cats.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
June 2, 2026