Free tick removal card from chemists

After seeing a post about this on a Swiss mum's group on Facebook I went into my local chemists to ask about the tick (or Zecken) removal card - I hadn't the faintest clue what this was called so did a swishing movement on the back of my hand - and received one free of charge! I've put a (rather blurry) image of the procedure to remove the tick using the card underneath. If you don't use this method, there is a chance of leaving part of the tick behind which may then still infect the skin.

But above all, don't panic (like I always do - we've had two 'incidents' now) - apparently it takes around 24 hours for a tick to infect its victim and then it may not even be infected itself. The main thing here is to keep vigilant - these things really are tiny and like to hide in the creases of the skin ie the tops of the legs, under the arms, behind the ears etc, so get into the habit of quickly checking your little ones on a daily basis as they get ready for bed.

If you know your children will be going near/in woods - or indeed any kind of foliage up to their knees - you can also use a spray (pictured below) which deters ticks, readily available from any chemist.

If you need further information about ticks, please refer to my earlier posts here and here.