Lymes Disease Treatment (Prevention) In Humans

Summer is the right time to enjoy outdoor with fun. But be careful, there is also some certain diseases that can attack you during summer -- and one of them is Lyme disease. It is usually spread by the infected ticks. There are some options to treat this disease and here are some Lymes disease treatments and prevention tips!

You may also be interested to read about symptoms of Lyme disease in human -- before continuing to learn more the currently treatments of this disease!

What you should do to prevent Lyme disease?

When it comes to the prevention of Lyme disease, there is no better idea than by protecting yourself from a bite of an infected tick. Once you have a tick bite, you have a chance of having the disease. Fortunately, many people who get a bite tick don’t experience Lyme disease, because this disease is only spread by the infected ticks -- as mentioned before! Read also Lyme disease in children!

The population of ticks that can spread this disease is usually drastically increasing in the summer. When you want to go to grassy/wooded areas, do some helpful tips below to minimize your risk of a tick bite:

1. Cover your skin with the right lotion (like DEET or talk with your doctor to find the right product for your skin).
2. Wear or use also other accessories to protect your skin from a tick bite, such as long pants, long-sleeved shirt, and hat.
3. You can also consider the light-colored clothes in order to notice more easily if there is a tick that attach on your cloth.
4. Keep remember that an infected tick also can attack your pets (like dog), so check also your dog for any tick after your dog has been outside! Your pets will not spread Lyme disease to your body, but they may bring infected ticks into the inside of your home or room. Furthermore, Lyme disease cannot be spread by an infected individual to other individuals -- it is not contagious!

Treatments of Lyme disease in humans

The treatments that you need when you have Lyme disease are closely dependent to the stage of the disease that you have. But generally, the main treatment of this disease is antibiotics -- such as amoxicillin and doxycycline! To keep safe, all medications to treat Lyme disease should be prescribed by a doctor!

The treatment that will be given by a doctor should be effective enough to eliminate/minimize the infection and prevent other complications of the disease, such as problems associated with nervous system, heart, joints, and skin.

In early stage of Lyme disease, doctor usually will prescribe antibiotics. For younger children, adults, and women with breast-feeding -- cefuroxime or amoxicillin is common choice. And for kids (over 8 of the age) and adults -- doxycycline is one of common choices.

The antibiotic is usually prescribed for oral option, but sometimes it also can be prescribed in injection-option or intravenous -- depending on the symptoms & stage of Lyme disease. Intravenous or oral antibiotics may also be prescribed by doctors to cure the severe symptoms of late Lyme disease.

Intravenous (IV) antibiotics is also one of common choices for late Lyme disease when the patient experience neck pain, problems associated with memory, numbness/weakness in the legs/arms, and headaches.

In addition, sometimes a therapy is also needed to improve/regain the mental abilities of patient for case when Lyme disease has affected problems associated with thinking, concentration, or memory.

What else you should know for your Lyme diseases treatment?

1. For Lyme disease that recurs /often recurs (a condition that also familiar called as ‘chronic Lyme arthritis’), doctors usually recommend oral antibiotics for initial treatment. But if it doesn’t work effectively, doctors may try with IV-antibiotics.
2. As mentioned before, there are some types of antibiotics. And the right one that will be prescribed by your doctor and how long you should take it is dependent to the symptoms & stage of your Lyme disease.
3. You may want to use aspirin (nonprescription option) for your home remedies, but much better to consult first with a doctor in order to keep safe! Furthermore, aspirin is not allowed for anyone who are younger than 20 of the age, because it has been associated in causing Reye syndrome!
4. One of common symptoms is Lyme disease rash! It can make you become uncomfortable -- but it usually also doesn’t need special treatment. It usually will begin to clear up after the right prescribed antibiotic begins to work effectively to rid off the infection.
5. And how about with surgery? Is there any case of Lyme disease that needs surgery for the treatment? Well, surgical treatment is not common option to treat Lyme disease. But it may be required to remove/treat the lining of the affected joints which usually occurs in a few cases of chronic Lyme arthritis!
6. Additionally, what are factors that can make the symptoms/signs of Lyme disease take longer to improve? There are some possible factors which may include: the symptom itself (some symptoms may take longer to improve), severe condition of nerve/tissue damage, at the same time you have other health conditions that make your treatment don’t work successfully, or even the wrong diagnosis (you may not have Lyme disease, and your symptoms may be caused by other health conditions).

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Reference: MayoClinic and WebMD
Image credit to ‘shutterstock’ for illustration