First Symptoms of Lyme Disease

If you recognize the first symptoms of Lyme disease early on, you will save yourself from dealing with potentially serious complications later. Keep this list of symptoms handy and check over it whenever you have a suspicious rash or get bitten by a tick.

How Lyme Disease Spreads
Lyme disease is transmitted by deer tick bites, so you will always want to watch a tick bite closely. Remove ticks carefully using tweezers, doing your best to remove the tick's head with that first initial pull of the tweezers. If the tick's head remains embedded, see the doctor for assistance immediately. Tape the tick to a piece of paper using clear packing tape or adhesive tape and save it in case you need to show it to the doctor later. Watch the site of the tick bite for the next month.

As a rule, a tick needs to be attached to your body for 24 hours for Lyme Disease to spread. In some cases, however, it can be transmitted in less than 24 hours. Always check yourself thoroughly for ticks after you've been outdoors and remove ticks as soon as you see them. Even if you removed the tick quickly, keep an eye on the bite area for signs of infection.

Initial Symptoms of Lyme Disease
Watch for these symptoms at the location of the tick bite. If you experience any of them, get medical attention as soon as possible.

• Bump at Bite Site: The tick bite will turn into a small red bump. The bump will be raised and may feel warm.
• Spreading Rash: As the days pass, a red rash will spread from the bump at the bite site. The rash will look like a bulls eye or a target. It will appear as a red ring with a pale inner ring radiating out from the red bump. The bulls-eye rash may be as small as a pencil eraser tip or as big as 12 inches in diameter. The rash will keep expanding and getting redder as time passes. 

If you have these symptoms, you should see your doctor right away for testing. Your doctor will test you using the ELISA test and the Western blot test. If you test positive for Lyme Disease, you will receive a course of antibiotics specific to the B. burgdorferi bacteria. You will need to take the entire course of antibiotics and then see your doctor again to make sure the infection has been conquered.

The good news is that Lyme Disease is very treatable at this early stage. The course of antibiotics and a few follow-up evaluations are usually all that's needed. The risk of developing chronic Lyme Disease at this stage is very low, but the risk increases if the disease progresses to its later stages.