How Wisconsin Residents Can Reduce Their Lyme Disease Risk

This is not medical advice.

Warmer weather means more time spent in the great outdoors. And if you’re looking forward to heading outside, you should absolutely make Lyme disease prevention a part of your plan.

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that is spread by the bite of an infected tick. According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 476,000 Americans are diagnosed with and treated for Lyme disease each year. When treated in the early stages, recovery is usually quick and complete. However, if left untreated, Lyme disease can cause long-term complications including heart palpitations, facial paralysis and arthritis.

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and there's never been a better time to learn about preventing Lyme disease, recognizing the signs of it and knowing the steps to take if you think you’ve been bitten by a tick. Here are some helpful tips to follow before and after heading out into nature.

Know Where To Expect Ticks

Tick exposure can occur year-round, but blacklegged ticks — the type that transmits Lyme disease in the United States — are most active during warmer months. And since spring and summer are common seasons for camping, hiking, gardening or just being outside, the odds of being exposed to infectious ticks tend to increase.

Ticks thrive in grassy and wooded areas, but they can also live in a neatly manicured front yard. Being around dogs and other pets prone to carrying ticks can also increase your risk of being in close contact with ticks.

Take Steps To Repel Ticks

The best way to keep ticks from biting you is to avoid wooded or grassy areas altogether. If you are venturing into the woods, though, you can treat your clothing and gear with a chemical repellent, such as permethrin.

If you have a pet, work with your veterinarian to find reliable tick-prevention products. Your veterinarian may also recommend vaccinating your pet against Lyme disease. Keeping your pet out of tall grasses and wooded areas can also help reduce the chances of them being bitten by a tick or bringing the parasites back into your home.

And if you want to further prevent ticks, specifically in your yard, there are landscaping techniques to reduce tick populations. These include clearing tall grass and bushes around your home, mowing the lawn frequently and creating wood chip barriers. Applying tick pesticides, such as acaricides, can also help to control the number of ticks in treated areas of your yard. If you do use pesticides, make sure to apply them safely and in accordance with the laws and regulations for your area.

Do Routine Tick Checks

After spending time outdoors, it’s extremely important to examine your clothing, gear and pets upon returning inside. You should also conduct a full body check if you were in any tick-infested areas. According to the CDC, common parts of your body where ticks may hide include:

• Under the arms
• In and around the ears
• Inside the belly button
• Back of the knees
• In and around the hair
• Between the legs
• Around the waist

Showering soon after returning inside and tumble drying any clothing worn outside are also effective ways to prevent tick bites.

Know The Signs and Symptoms Of Lyme Disease

Signs and symptoms of Lyme disease can present themselves anywhere from three days to 30 days after an infectious tick bite occurs. If you develop Lyme disease, it can produce a wide range of symptoms depending on the stage of infection. According to the CDC, some of the most common symptoms to look out for are:

• A distinctive bull's-eye pattern rash at the site of the bite
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Muscle and joint aches
• Swollen lymph nodes

If you think you’ve been bitten by a tick and are experiencing any of these symptoms, seek medical attention immediately. If untreated, the progressing infection may cause heart palpitations, facial palsy, arthritis with severe joint pain and other serious symptoms.

Having Trouble Paying For Your Lyme Treatment?
The sooner you treat Lyme disease, the quicker and easier your recovery will likely be. But the reality is that Lyme disease treatment can be expensive.

According to a study done by Johns Hopkins, Lyme disease costs can amount to nearly $3,000 per patient due to testing, doctor visits and in some cases hospitalization. Because most cases of Lyme disease can be treated with two to four weeks of antibiotics, it isn’t always recognized as a legitimate illness. This means that a majority of insurance companies won’t cover treatment, resulting in more patients paying out-of-pocket.

The good news is that there is a solution to overpaying for your prescriptions. If your insurance doesn’t cover your medication, GoodRx, the leading resource in health care savings, can help you find your prescription at the lowest possible price. And fortunately, GoodRx has coupons available for each of the following commonly prescribed medications for the treatment of Lyme disease:

• Tetracycline antibiotics (doxycycline)
• Penicillin antibiotics (amoxicillin)
• Cephalosporin antibiotics (cefuroxime axetil, Ceftin)

Obtaining your GoodRx coupon is simple. Visit the GoodRx website or download the free GoodRx app, add in your prescription details and ZIP code, and GoodRx immediately starts sourcing drug coupons and comparing medication prices at nearby pharmacies so you can select the option that works best for you.

See how much you can save with GoodRx: Download the GoodRx app or use its drug search tool on GoodRx.com to find the lowest price for your prescriptions.