New to tick bites. Is this serious or do i just wait and see?

That doesn't sound like a tick bite to me. First of all, the tick would probably still be attached. They don't typically just take one bite and leave, like a biting fly. Second, the current state doesn't sound like a tick rash either. The one I got from a tick was also circular, but wasn't hard like a bee-sting reaction.

That said, there's no shame in going to see a doctor and getting them to look at it. If in doubt, they'll prescribe a course of antibiotics to knock out whatever it might be. Lyme apparently responds well to antibiotics in its very early stages, so better safe than sorry. Full-blown chronic Lyme isn't something to mess with.

Doesn't sound like a tick bite to me wrote:

That doesn't sound like a tick bite to me. First of all, the tick would probably still be attached. They don't typically just take one bite and leave, like a biting fly. Second, the current state doesn't sound like a tick rash either. The one I got from a tick was also circular, but wasn't hard like a bee-sting reaction.

That said, there's no shame in going to see a doctor and getting them to look at it. If in doubt, they'll prescribe a course of antibiotics to knock out whatever it might be. Lyme apparently responds well to antibiotics in its very early stages, so better safe than sorry. Full-blown chronic Lyme isn't something to mess with.

Yep. Lyme takes around 36 hours of tick attachment to transmit. Probably a spider bite or contact dermatitis.

Ticks attach themselves to your body. They don't bite and go away. They drink blood and then regurgitate it into the victim hours later. That's how you get a disease from a tick. There have been *almost* no documented cases of disease where the tick was attached for less than 24 hours.

This was either a chigger or a spider... most likely a spider bite. It sounds more like a spider bite to me. You won't necessarily feel a spider bite. Virtually all (maybe all) spiders are poisonous to different degrees.

fisky wrote:

Ticks attach themselves to your body. They don't bite and go away. They drink blood and then regurgitate it into the victim hours later. That's how you get a disease from a tick. There have been *almost* no documented cases of disease where the tick was attached for less than 24 hours.

This was either a chigger or a spider... most likely a spider bite. It sounds more like a spider bite to me. You won't necessarily feel a spider bite. Virtually all (maybe all) spiders are poisonous to different degrees.

Ayup, ticks are out in force up he-ah in New England due to our rainy Spring. Lyme disease is nasty stuff, just ask April Lavigne. Easily misdiagnosed.

Porkie wrote:

fisky wrote:

Ticks attach themselves to your body. They don't bite and go away. They drink blood and then regurgitate it into the victim hours later. That's how you get a disease from a tick. There have been *almost* no documented cases of disease where the tick was attached for less than 24 hours.

This was either a chigger or a spider... most likely a spider bite. It sounds more like a spider bite to me. You won't necessarily feel a spider bite. Virtually all (maybe all) spiders are poisonous to different degrees.

Ayup, ticks are out in force up he-ah in New England due to our rainy Spring. Lyme disease is nasty stuff, just ask April Lavigne. Easily misdiagnosed.

If you live in tick-infested areas, you should always check for ticks after trail runs or hiking. My wife nearly died from ehrlichiosis, a tick disease, that was misdiagnosed when we were traveling to an area where ticks were less prevalent.

Fortunately, our dog had previously gotten ehrlichiosis so I mentioned it to the ER doctor. He switched her antibiotic and she was better in 24 hours. Still, the OP probably got a spider bite.

I lived most of my life in the south and had hundreds (thousands?) of tick bites. It's just what happens when you're outside in the summer. Now that I'm in the NE where Lyme is more prevalent, I'm a bit more careful, but it still happens and you can't go running to a doctor every time you get a tick.

I had a similar-sounding "bite," that I thought for sure was a simple spider bite. When it continued to worsen over a week or more, I had it checked out. It turned out to be MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ).

Mortality rates for MRSA infections is 20-50%, so it's super-serious. I worked in a hospital at the time, and there is a heightened risk of contracting it in that type of environment.

So, especially if you work at a hospital, or nursing home, or prison, etc, MRSA is a real possibility. Have it looked at asap.

tick me off wrote:

I lived most of my life in the south and had hundreds (thousands?) of tick bites. It's just what happens when you're outside in the summer. Now that I'm in the NE where Lyme is more prevalent, I'm a bit more careful, but it still happens and you can't go running to a doctor every time you get a tick.

i also live in the NE and had lyme 2 years ago from tick after a run. I don't think you go to the doc for every tick bite but if you get a bruise or the classic bulls eye, get to doc, sooner the better. i got on meds quickly and got it before it manifested further.

Thanks for all the responses. It’s on the back of my calf and I’m wondering whether it’s possible a tick did sit there for a couple of days without me knowing it. I mean, could it have eventually come out on its own in the shower without me knowing it? I finally the swelling when I was massaging out my sore calf last night and felt a hard mass through the pant leg.

I’ve had spider bites on occasion and they’ve always been very painful. This isn’t. Which isn’t to say all spider bites must be painful, it’s just odd given how inflamed it is and I read that a tick injects a numbing agent so that the bite site doesn’t itch or hurt.

Argh. I’m just getting my legs back after being very ill and the last thing I want is another antibiotic. I’ve had almost ten rounds of them already this year.

Your description is exactly what I experienced with MRSA. Hard mass I could feel through my pant-leg. Not sore. Maybe a little itchy, I can't remember. And if you've been through several recent rounds of antibiotics, maybe you're more susceptible? Did you require frequent visits or stays at a hospital or medical facility. 50% morality rate if the infection reaches your bloodstream.

fisky wrote:

Porkie wrote:

Ayup, ticks are out in force up he-ah in New England due to our rainy Spring. Lyme disease is nasty stuff, just ask April Lavigne. Easily misdiagnosed.

If you live in tick-infested areas, you should always check for ticks after trail runs or hiking. My wife nearly died from ehrlichiosis, a tick disease, that was misdiagnosed when we were traveling to an area where ticks were less prevalent.

Fortunately, our dog had previously gotten ehrlichiosis so I mentioned it to the ER doctor. He switched her antibiotic and she was better in 24 hours. Still, the OP probably got a spider bite.

Ehrlichiosis put me in the hospital for a week. While I was in ICU, a patient in the room next to me died from Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. Moral of the story: don't take chances or delay seeking medical attention.

mersa? wrote:

Your description is exactly what I experienced with MRSA. Hard mass I could feel through my pant-leg. Not sore. Maybe a little itchy, I can't remember. And if you've been through several recent rounds of antibiotics, maybe you're more susceptible? Did you require frequent visits or stays at a hospital or medical facility. 50% morality rate if the infection reaches your bloodstream.

Now I’m getting freaked out. Yes, had meningitis with complications, a subsequent hospital-acquired infection, and sepsis. Multiple hospital stays totaling several weeks. Cr&p...

Check your state health department website to see if they show what the incidence of lyme is where you ran. It turns out that it's not everywhere. But, there are also other tickborne illnesses that should be treated so i think you should get it checked out.

dodged a bullet wrote:

Ehrlichiosis put me in the hospital for a week. While I was in ICU, a patient in the room next to me died from Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. Moral of the story: don't take chances or delay seeking medical attention.

Between your experience and the poster’s above, I’m seeing a doc. I already almost kicked the bucket twice this year and while I’m really, really sick of hospitals after all that, I’d rather look like a hypochondriac than go through hell again.

oncebitten wrote:

Check your state health department website to see if they show what the incidence of lyme is where you ran. It turns out that it's not everywhere. But, there are also other tickborne illnesses that should be treated so i think you should get it checked out.

I did last night. Less than 10 cases reported for 2018, no data for YTD. But I live in a very dry, sparsely populated state. And only a handful of diehards run up in the mountains where I do my Sunday long runs. I can go weeks without passing anyone up there. This weekend was the first without too much snow at high elevations to get off road. Mine was the only car at the bottom of the mountain.

high desert native about to die of Lyme disease?? wrote:

the last thing I want is another antibiotic. I’ve had almost ten rounds of them already this year.

Why all the antibiotics? An insect bite would be the least of your worries.

Use a damp washcloth and use as a poultice to suck out the toxins from the bite / inflamed area.

Press on for 5 seconds, on for 5 seconds, repeat for a couple of minutes, then repeat through the days.

Continue until all the swelling is gone and the wound has healed.

Everytime after you do this, use several ice cubes, numb the area quite well and then stop.

Continue doing these things at least several times every day until the wound has completely healed.

*on for 5 seconds, "off" for 5 seconds

dunes runner wrote:

dodged a bullet wrote:

Ehrlichiosis put me in the hospital for a week. While I was in ICU, a patient in the room next to me died from Rocky Mountain Spotted fever.

Actually, he died from being in ICU, which happens to many people, from various "reasons," i.e. all the same one.

Moral of the story: don't take chances by seeking medical attention for every imagined slight affliction.

I diagnose it as necrotizing fasciitis, also known as "flesh eating bacteria disease."

VirtueSignaler wrote:

dunes runner wrote:

Actually, he died from being in ICU, which happens to many people, from various "reasons," i.e. all the same one.

Moral of the story: don't take chances by seeking medical attention for every imagined slight affliction.

I diagnose it as necrotizing fasciitis, also known as "flesh eating bacteria disease."

Laughs aside, sometimes seemingly minor things go really, really bad. Having recently circled the drain for weeks with antibiotic-resistant bacterial meningitis which I hadn’t gone to get help for at first thinking it was the flu, I’ve become more circumspect. A couple of weeks on a ventilator will do that to ya.