How to Safely Remove a Tick From Your Skin, and What to Do If a Tick Head Gets Stuck (With Pictures)

The idea of removing a tick from your body might fill you with fear and disgust. Or it may bring back fond childhood memories of time spent in nature. Ticks are especially common in the Northeastern parts of the U.S., where some people consider the occasional tick removal a natural part of life. 

Whether you’re a pro or a novice at removing ticks, sometimes a part of the tick gets stuck in the skin. Here’s how to tell when that happens — and what to do about it. 

How to remove a tick

Ticks are known for burrowing into the skin, so they can be a bit difficult to remove. 

Here’s what a tick looks like, both in the skin, and out: 

Close-up of a tick burrowing into the skin. (Ocskaymark/iStock via Getty Images Plus)

A Lyme disease tick.

Take your time and don’t rush to remove the tick immediately. If your hands are shaking, or you feel queasy, start by sitting down and taking a breath. You need a steady hand and a clear head for this. 

Here’s what you’ll need to safely remove a tick from your skin: 

• A pair of thin-tipped tweezers

• A flame or rubbing alcohol to clean the tweezers

• Clean water and soap

 When you’re ready, follow these steps for how to remove a tick: 

1. Clean a pair of thin-tipped tweezers.

2. Use the tweezers to grab the tick as close to your skin’s surface (and the tick’s head) as possible. You may need to hold the tweezers sideways along the surface of your skin for best grip and leverage.

3. Pull straight up with steady, even pressure. You may need to apply more pressure than you think to get the tick to release its grip in the skin. Keep a steady hand and keep pulling. Twisting or crushing the tick may cause the tick to break. 

4. If the body of the tick breaks off from the head, use the same technique as before to try to remove the embedded head. Use clean tweezers and gently try to pull upward with steady, even pressure. 

5. Once you’ve removed the tick, wash the area with soap and water, or rubbing alcohol.

6. Before disposing of the tick, you may want to take a picture of it. This can be helpful in figuring out the risk level for certain tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease. 

7. Lastly, get rid of the tick. You can flush it down the toilet, put it in a Ziplock bag, wrap it tightly in tape, or drown it in alcohol.

What not to do when removing a tick

If you notice a tick stuck in your skin or someone else’s skin, don’t rush to remove it. You have time to gather some equipment, sit down, and take a breath. Here are some things to avoid when trying to remove a tick:

• Don’t twist, jerk, or crush the tick as you try to remove it. This can cause the head of the tick to break off in the skin and makes it harder to remove. 

• Don’t try to grab it with your fingers. This can also result in breaking off only part of the tick, leaving the head behind. 

• Don’t use petroleum jelly, nail polish, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or a hot match to kill the tick. These methods don’t work. More on this below. 

Can you remove a tick with Vaseline?

You might read about other ways to remove a tick, like using:

• Vaseline

• A hot match

• Alcohol

• Hydrogen peroxide 

The idea behind these methods is that the discomfort from a hot match will make the tick detach itself, or that alcohol and Vaseline can kill the tick. 

EXPERT PICKS: WHAT TO READ NEXT

• What do tick bites look like? See what tick bites look like on humans, and learn what to do about them. 

• Tick bite treatment: Read our complete guide to tick bites, tick-borne diseases, and treatments.

• Tick-borne diseases: It’s not just Lyme disease that you can get from ticks. There are other tick-borne infections too, and it helps to know the signs. 

• Where can you get ticks? Ticks are common in woodland areas, but you can get them at the beach, too. 

But these methods aren’t recommended. They don’t work, and the longer a tick is attached to your skin, the better chance it has to transmit a tick-borne disease.

How to tell if a tick head is stuck in the skin

Once you’ve removed the tick, check the area. If you accidentally broke off the tick when trying to remove it, you may still see part of the head on the surface of your skin. 

The part of the tick that tends to get stuck in the skin isn’t the full head. It’s a portion of the head called the “mouthparts.” You can usually tell if part of the tick is still stuck in your skin because you will see a small, black dot at the site. 

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If you’re not sure, look at the tick you removed. If the tick is moving its legs, you’ve successfully removed the entire tick.

What if a tick head is stuck and you can’t get it out?

If you’ve tried to remove the remaining tick head and still can’t get it out, the CDC recommends leaving the area alone to heal. Then clean it with soap and water or rubbing alcohol.

And don’t worry: The mouthparts or head of a tick don’t carry tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease. So leaving part of the head in your skin will not increase your chances of catching a tick-borne disease. Most of the time, the area will heal, and your skin will push the head of the tick out over the next 1 to 2 weeks.

But leaving the tick head in your skin can increase the risk of a skin infection. So be sure to watch the area closely as it heals. If there are signs of infection, it’s possible you may need topical (cream) antibiotics or antibiotic pills.

Signs of a skin infection include: 

• Redness

• Pain

• Warmth

• Swelling 

Should you see a healthcare professional after removing a tick?

It depends. You may want to talk with your healthcare professional if you think the tick has been attached to your body for more than 36 hours or the tick looks full of blood.

Depending on where you live and how long the tick may have been attached, your healthcare professional may recommend preventive antibiotics to prevent the development of Lyme disease. Not all ticks transmit Lyme disease. So, a picture of the tick (or even the preserved tick itself) can help them figure out whether you need treatment.

And Lyme isn’t the only thing to think about. Some ticks can transmit other tick-borne diseases. See a healthcare professional if you develop any of these symptoms in the 30 days after getting a tick bite:

• Rash

• Fever

• Fatigue

• Headache

• Muscle pain

• Joint swelling or pain

How can you prevent tick bites?

The best way to prevent tick bites is to familiarize yourself with what a tick looks like, and to routinely check yourself, your loved ones, and your pets after being outdoors. 

It helps to avoid heavily wooded areas with long grasses, and to wear DEET-containing insect repellent all over your clothes and skin. Tuck in your shirt, and wear long sleeves and pants, too. Opt for light-colored clothing, so that the ticks are easier to see. 

Why trust our experts?

Written by:

Karen Hovav, MD, FAAP

Karen Hovav, MD, FAAP, has more than 15 years of experience as an attending pediatrician in a variety of clinical settings. She has worked in a large academic center in an urban city, a small community hospital, a private practice, and an urgent care clinic.

Edited by:

Sophie Vergnaud, MD

Sophie Vergnaud, MD, is the Senior Medical Director for GoodRx Health. An experienced and dedicated pulmonologist and hospitalist, she spent a decade practicing and teaching clinical medicine at academic hospitals throughout London before transitioning to a career in health education and health technology.

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Images used with permission from VisualDx (www.visualdx.com).