How To Remove A Tick Head That Breaks Off From Its Body? - Healthline

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Bites and Stings

Removing a Tick Head from Your or a Pet’s Skin

Medically reviewed by Meredith Goodwin, MD, FAAFP — Written by Kathryn Watson — Updated on October 24, 2024

Removing from your skin
Removal from pet
How to tell if you’re successful
Risk factors
Testing for disease
Seeking medical help
Treatment
Summary

You can usually remove a tick head safely using tweezers or a needle. Other popular remedies, like using a credit card, may do more harm than good.

how to remove a tick head, tick being removed from a pet — Gutaper/Getty Images

Ticks are parasitic bugs that look for warm-blooded hosts, like humans or pets. They attach to your skin using their mouth parts and remain there until they are removed, which can be quite difficult because of how strongly they grip your skin.

Although tick bites are often harmless, these creatures can also carry diseases (such as Lyme disease) and pose a risk of infection. That’s why it’s important to remove ticks as soon as possible.

In the process of removing a tick, you may find that the tick’s head remains stuck under or on top of your skin. If this happens, you need to have a game plan to remove the rest of the tick safely. Let’s cover ways to do so.

How to remove a tick head that broke off under your skin

Before you get started, cleanse the tick bite with rubbing alcohol so you don’t end up scraping bacteria into the area.

Tweezers

You can start by using fine-tipped tweezers to remove the tick’s head.

Clean the tweezer tip with alcohol or soap and hot water.
Make sure that the tip of the tweezers is sterile by cleaning it with soap and hot water before using it.
Insert the angled edge of the tweezers and firmly grasp the tick’s head. If you aren’t able to firmly grasp it, or if it’s in a place where you can’t reach it, find someone to help you.
Pull the tick’s head up and out of your skin. The best movement is a firm, straight tug.

Needle

If a tweezer doesn’t work, or if you don’t have one available, you can use a sterilized needle.

Clean the needle tip with alcohol or soap and hot water.
Gently use the pointed end of the needle to create a wider opening for the tick’s head. Don’t break your skin layer, just try to make the hole where the tick’s head is embedded a bit bigger.
Try again with the tweezer to remove the tick’s head, or use the needle to take the tick’s head out if you’re able to.

Unsafe methods

Other methods of taking out a tick’s head, such as scraping with a credit card, may introduce bacteria to the area of your tick bite. So, if you’re able, stick with sterilized first aid materials (like tweezers or a needle) to protect your body from infection. Don’t try to twist or jerk a tick’s head that’s underneath your skin.

How to remove a tick head from your pet’s skin

Removing a tick’s head from your pet’s skin may be a little trickier, especially if your furry friend has thick fur or hair.

Make sure that your pet is lying down and calm. You may want to have some treats on hand, and it helps to have someone else to assist you in keeping your pet calm.
Clean the area of the tick bite with rubbing alcohol.
Using a sterilized tweezer, gently attempt to remove the tick’s head with steady, strong pressure as you pull outward.
If a sterilized tweezer doesn’t work, you may also try to use a sterilized needle to widen the area of the tick bite to try to get the head out.
If you’re not able to get the tick’s head out, call your veterinarian.

How to tell if you got the tick head out?

You might have gotten the whole tick with your first attempt at removing it. Look at the tick to see if it’s moving its legs. If it is, the tick’s head is still attached and you got the whole thing out.

You may notice you’ve decapitated the tick in the process of removing it. The tick’s head may even still be visible partly outside your skin. If that’s the case, it’ll be easier to tell once you’ve completed the job.

It’s not a pleasant thought, but it’s possible that the tick’s head will break apart under your skin. If that happens, you’ll may want to gently tug under your skin’s surface to try to get all of it out.

Risk factors of leaving a tick head under your skin

Leaving a tick’s head embedded in your (or your furry friend’s) skin doesn’t increase your risk of tick-borne disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), if you can’t easily remove parts of the tick head using tweezers, it’s better to leave it alone and let your skin heal. Sometimes, the body recognizes a foreign object, walls it off, and moves this “bump” toward the skin surface, where it falls off.

When your skin heals over the tick bite, it may also create a hard bump over the area where the tick’s head was.

Should you save the tick for testing?

According to the CDC, there’s no need to test a tick. Just because a tick has an Illness doesn’t mean you will get it, and if you do contract a tick-borne illness, you are likely to have symptoms before the test results are back.

You may want to save the tick in a bag or small container with rubbing alcohol so that your doctor or healthcare professional can help you identify its type. Knowing the type may help determine which illness you may be at risk of developing.

The (CDC) recommends never crushing a tick with your fingers.

When to call a doctor after removing a tick

In some situations, even after removing a tick, you need to seek attention from a medical professional.

Be ready to call a doctor if:

the tick bite appears infected, oozing green or white discharge, or feels warm to the touch
a rash develops on your body after the tick bite
symptoms like joint pain, fever, or muscle stiffness develop in the days after a tick bite

The CDC says that symptoms of Lyme disease appear anywhere between 3 and 30 days after a tick bite, and they suggest you watch for symptoms for 30 days.

Call your healthcare professional if you have any of these symptoms:

rash
fever
fatigue
headache
muscle pain
joint swelling and pain

When do you need treatment for a tick bite?

In general, CDC does not recommend taking antibiotics after tick bites to prevent tickborne diseases. However, they do recommend a single dose of doxycycline in certain circumstances after a tick bite to lower your risk of Lyme disease. If you live in an area where Lyme disease is common, speak with your healthcare professional if you are concerned about a tick bite.

Treatment for tickborne diseases will be based on symptoms, history of exposure to ticks, and, sometimes, blood test results. Most tickborne diseases can be treated with antibiotics.

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Takeaway

If you see a tick’s head lodged under your skin, your child’s skin, or your pet’s skin, it can give you a creepy-crawly feeling. However, that doesn’t mean it’s time to panic. You will most likely be able to remove the tick’s head with a little patience.

If you aren’t able to completely remove a tick’s head, you can let your skin heal. A tick’s head left under the skin doesn’t increase your risk of Lyme disease or other tick-borne illnesses, but it may increase your risk of a skin infection.

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesHistoryHealthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Eisen L. (2022). Personal protection measures to prevent tick bites in the United States: Knowledge gaps, challenges, and opportunities.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35364518/
Lyme disease. (2021).https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/index.html
Mahajan V. (2023). Lyme disease: An overview.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10506804/
Tick bites. (n.d.).https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/injuries/skin-injuries/tick-bites/
What to do after a tick bite. (2024).https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/after-a-tick-bite/

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Medically reviewed by Meredith Goodwin, MD, FAAFP — Written by Kathryn Watson — Updated on October 24, 2024

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