How To Treat Lyme Disease

By Etta Bowen


Treatment of lyme disease requires early intervention with the right antibiotics. It takes about a month for the symptoms to be diagnosed. The earliest signs include a rash characterized by a small bump around the area of the bite. This rash may develop on multiple areas on your body. It occurs in a bulls eye pattern with a red ring surrounding the clear area. The patient also experiences flue like symptoms of fever, fatigue, chills, aches and headache.

Some of the signs develop weeks or a month after the bite. It is necessary to understand the symptoms at each stage since they develop progressively. Experts who understand how to treat lyme disease point at the spread of the rush to other body parts. This happens weeks or months after the bite.

Specific tests are conducted to ascertain the presence of the bacteria. The antibiotics should be administered as early as possible. This will lead to quick and complete recovery. Treatment is done through oral administration of antibiotics.

Adults and children over 8 years are given as dose of doxycycline or amoxicillin. Cefuroxime is the best option if children are below 8 years. Pregnant and breast feeding mothers are also treated using cefuroxime. The duration of treatment ranges between 14 and 21 days though there are cases where 10 to 14 days of antibiotic administration have proven effective.

The use of intravenous antibiotic injection is only necessary when the nervous system is affected. The injection will be administered over a period of 14 to 28 days. An infection that has spread or affected the nervous system takes longer to eliminate. Expected side effects include reduced white blood cells count, colonization by organisms that are resistant to antibiotics and severe to mild diarrhea.

After being treated, some patients will still display symptoms such as fatigue and muscle aches. The symptoms do not go away despite continue antibiotic use. This is attributed, to some extent, to the development of autoimmune response by the body. Studies are on going to unravel the mystery.

Food and Drug Administration has warned against using Bismacine. This is an injectable compound commonly used by alternative practitioners. It contains high levels of bismuth, a harmful metal to the body. Its use in injections is said to be poisonous by exposing the patient to such conditions as heart ailments and kidney failure.

It is advisable to avoid areas where deer ticks can be found if you are to keep off the disease. The areas include sections with long grass as well as bushy and wooded areas. Simple precautions that reduce exposure include wearing long pants and sleeved shirts when walking or working around such areas.

The market has insect repellants that are helpful in reducing exposure. A higher concentration of DEET makes repellants more effective. They should not come into contact with the hands, mouth and eyes of children during application. There are pretreated cloths for use in the farm or permethrin may be applied locally.

Regularly disinfected yards are considered safer and effective in keeping ticks off your skin. Other measures include clearing bushing and storing woodpiles in the sun. Pets must be disinfected on regular basis and living areas maintained in a very clean state. Tweezers should be used to remove the ticks when it bites your and antiseptic applied on the wound.




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