Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them: Health care screwups are one of the leading causes of death in America, killing as many as 750,000 people annually. That’s more than heart attacks or cancer. And yet most people don’t know this, including most physicians. From diagnostic disasters to deadly drug interactions, the bestselling authors of The People’s Pharmacy expose the alarming epidemic of medical mistakes in America—and offer a lifesaving prescription to make the healthcare system safe again. Only $26.00 +s/h
Was this information helpful? Average rating: 4.2/5 (133 votes)
What do you think? Click the stars to vote!
If you have more to say, post a comment below!
Q. Last summer I learned that antiseptic mouth rinse kills ticks immediately. When I found a tick, I used to remove it and put it into rubbing alcohol where it died after a minute or so. Once I had no alcohol, but my mouthwash was handy. I wet some toilet paper with it, laid it on the tick for a few seconds and, shazam! The tick released its nasty grip. I wiped it away with the paper.
Check it out. Be sure the active ingredients match those of Listerine blue or yellow. If you put a live tick into this solution, it dies in a couple of seconds.
A. Dermatologists advise using tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull steadily (no jerking or twisting) until it lets go. Putting alcohol or petroleum jelly on the tick is not recommended.
A tick should not be handled with bare fingers, to prevent picking up the germs it may carry. Dropping it into rubbing alcohol or a mouthwash like Listerine that contains alcohol should kill it quickly. If you don't have anything like that available, you can entomb the tick in transparent adhesive tape and dispose of it.
Was this information helpful? Average rating: 4.2/5 (133 votes)
What do you think? Click the stars to vote!
If you have more to say, post a comment below!
So if we did use alcohol while he still had a grip on the skin . . . what could happen? We did that just this weekend, and the guy came out a little easier with the tweezers, but now I worry as there is a little bump there.
As a long time sufferer of Lyme Disease who was misdiagnosed in 1993 with CFS when it was really Lyme, I would get to a Lyme Literate physician and get a blood test through Igenex Labs. The regular Lyme test is not always accurate and I still come up negative on it. The sooner you get treatment the less likely you will become debilitated from this disease. Check out www.ilads.org, www.lymedisease.org, www.lyme.org, www.LymeDiseaseAssociation.org, www.lymenet.com, www.underourskin.com. You can also have Lyme without having the rash and/or bull's eye. I never saw either.
PEOPLE'S PHARMACY RESPONSE: IT MAKES SENSE TO TAKE LYME DISEASE VERY SERIOUSLY. BUT RECOGNIZE THAT CHRONIC LYME DISEASE IS AN EXTREMELY CONTROVERSIAL DIAGNOSIS THAT MAY NOT CONTRIBUTE TO RECOVERY.
Pulling out the tick alive is preferable so that your Health Department may test it for Lyme Disease. Human blood tests are not as reliable.
I will try this the next time I have a tick. My husband has had several tiny ticks this year, we think they were nymphs because even though they were very small, they weren't the correct color for deer ticks. They were so tiny that the body crumbled when I tried to pull them out. I like this approach if it will kill them and make it easier to remove them. I got them out with very fine tweezers, but I was concerned because they were so small and the body came apart as I pulled.
I have to go with the reader who wrote that Listerine caused the tick to release its hold and then die. The oils in Listerine that kill fungus could be the explanation. Whatever the case, I am adding Listerine to my Natural Disaster evacuation kit {or its less expensive equivalent}.
Can someone tell us why we should not use alcohol or the mouthwash to first kill the tick and then pull if off? Not killing it first makes no sense to me. Help?
PEOPLE'S PHARMACY RESPONSE: THE ADVICE WE FOUND SAID THAT ALCOHOL OR PETROLEUM JELLY ON THE TICK MAY CAUSE IT TO RELEASE PATHOGENS (IF IT IS CARRYING ANY) INTO THE SKIN. WE DON'T KNOW IF THIS HAS BEEN PROVEN OR IF IT IS SCIENTIFIC CONJECTURE.
I pulled out a couple of wood ticks with no difficulty and flushed them down the toilet.
My understanding is that the tick in dying can release its toxins under the skin of the person it has bitten. Pulling it out gently, apparently, does not stimulate this reaction.
Why do Dermatologists advise against putting alcohol on the tick? It seems to me that putting alcohol or Listerine on the tick would serve two purposes: kill the germs the tick is carrying and kill the tick. Please let me know why Dermatologists would make this recommendation.
PEOPLE'S PHARMACY RESPONSE: THE WORRY IS THAT THE TICK WILL RELEASE ITS SALIVA AND GERMS INTO THE BITE.
If you have it, and this might seem like a "duh!" moment because it was when I did it one time last year, but put deep woods off on a cotton ball and hold it on him and watch him back out ASAP! doesn't kill him though.
plan B - gotta go with the Listerine
No offense to those who have contracted Lyme Disease... it's serious! But I guess I've been flirting with danger most of my life. Have pulled hundreds of ticks off of dogs & cats or myself using only my fingernails as "tweezers". Nothing more gross than a engorged tick. You pull it off and there's 3 or 4 more underneath it. Yuck!
My advice to anyone who pulls off an attached tick is save it, and if you have symptoms remember to take it to your doctor or the ER. In my case, I forgot to take my saved tick and the ER doctor refused to consider I might have tick fever. He said mid-March was too early for ticks! I returned 5 days later very ill with multi-organ involvement and remained hospitalized 7 days with a 3 month recuperation. The follow-up blood titer confirmed Ehrlichiosis, a tick disease similar to Rocky Spotted Mountain Fever spread also by the American dog tick. Several days of Doxycycline or Tetracycline would have prevented my worsening illness and huge hospital bill. Sandy
I was lucky to have the bulls eye because I was very ill and had a high fever. Our HMO emergency room treated immediately and aggressively for Lyme Disease . I was told by my primary care physician that a blood test diagnosis might not be accurate until after several weeks had gone by. The test began with an M. can't remember more than that now.
A cousin had serious neurological, brain and muscular problems eventually diagnosed as untreated Lyme disease. I don't recommend being cavalier about tick bites.
When I went in to find the listerine, I found two different blue listerines with different active ingredients. Please, author be more specific about which listerine to get. thanks Doug
PEOPLE'S PHARMACY RESPONSE: IT IS ALMOST CERTAINLY THE ALCOHOL IN THE MOUTHWASH THAT IS KILLING THE TICK. FOR MOST HOME REMEDIES, THE CHOICE IS OLD-FASHIONED AMBER LISTERINE.
Thank you so much! Our dog had a huge tick in her ear and would not let us do anything with it. We poured a capfull of mouthwash in her ear and in less than a minute the tick fell out, stone dead. Amazing. Thanks again.
I killed a tick with the nails on my thumbs but people say you shouldn't kill it with your hands. What's gonna happen now that I killed it with my thumbs?
The concern is that the Spirochetes or other bacterial organisms could penetrate your skin and infect you if you handle them in any way. I also survived Lyme Disease and it really is nothing to take chances. I think it's worth having ticks tested to see if the Lyme is in your area.
Ticks are carried far and wide on birds and rodents, so it is pretty much everywhere now.
Mouthwash doesn't kill ticks here in Hawaii. I've been looking for something non-toxic that works on killing them as they seem resistant to Advantix II, etc. Gold Listerine stuns/paralyzes them, but after a few minutes, they are back to crawling around - although a little more slowly. It is soooo frustrating! There is no dormant season here and I haven't been able to get rid of them for over 1 year!
I just bought a couch from the Salvation Army and after bring it home week discovered it had ticks, so we took it outside. There were mostly babies and a few larger ones. I love the couch and want to keep it, so what should I use to kill them?
Shoots! I was almost hopeful about the Listerine until I read your post. I live on Maui and I can't get control of this tick situation. Have you found a solution yet?
The mouthwash doesn't work in the deep woods in PA either..... I have tried every kind of Listerine and none of them work.... Need to find something else.
I am a bit confused. Sounds like some people are putting this mouthwash on before removing the tick, which would kill it, thereby releasing the toxins from the tick? Seems that others are using it to kill the tick afterwords. The initial post states that "I used to remove it and put it into rubbing alcohol where it died after a minute or so. Once I had no alcohol, but my mouthwash was handy. I wet some toilet paper with it, laid it on the tick for a few seconds and, shazam! The tick released its nasty grip."
This seems to indicate two different scenarios. Also I use front line, this does kill the ticks, but only after they have started feeding and are at least partially engorged, thereby potentially infecting the animals with pathogenic bacteria. Another point to ponder if these toxins and/or bacteria are released in the ticks saliva, would this not also occur while the tick is alive and feeding,my inclination is "yes", since I am assuming some infected people/pets may have had a tick exposure that did not always end with the tick's death? (so what difference is there if the tick is dead or alive when you remove it)??
Would like some way to get them off in less than 24 hours (it seems that they need to feed for 24-48 hours to transmit disease). And I guess if alive is better for us that would be preferable. Another concern is that if they transmit bacteria while alive and feeding thru saliva and when dead there is a greater transfer potential, does that also indicate a greater transfer AS the tick is DYING? IE: if you do something that will cause death, but tick is still alive at removal will there be a "surge" release at the time the tick backs out? Thanks for any clarification and ideas!
A friend told me she always puts Lysol in the final rinse when washing clothes she intends to wear when camping and riding.
She says she has found dead ticks on her socks as a result. I realize that Lysol is toxic, but I have used a diluted spray on my horses' manes and tails. When I find live ticks I have a jar of Lysol and drop them, they do not last long there!
I am wondering if the toxicity of Lysol is worth the risk of putting it on clothes and to the animals?