A mother has spoken out about the horrifying moment that she discovered ticks inside her daughter’s ear.
The parent, Jessica DeLoach, took to TikTok this week to share a photo montage about the experience. DeLoach’s video started off with a picture of her daughter’s ear, which appeared to have a black mark inside it.
“I went to wash my daughter’s ears during bath time, and it looked like she had shoved something in her ear,” she wrote in the text over the photo.
She went on to share another photo of her daughter, Averie, itching her ear and explained what she did next.
“Immediately called her doctor and they said bring her in ASAP,” she wrote.
DeLoach also included a photo of her child at the doctor’s office, sharing that her daughter “acted fine, except for when someone messed with or wanted to look in her ear”.
She went on to share another photo of her daughter’s ear, which was red on the inside and appeared to have a scab in it. She addressed her fears over the situation, adding: “I had no idea what to expect and was so scared for our baby girl.”
DeLoach then posted a picture of one of the ticks that the doctor “pulled” out of her daughter’s ear. She noted how the tick could have gotten in there, adding: “We had been working in the yard the day before…Our poor baby girl.”
Speaking to The Independent, the mother noted that her daughter used antibiotic ear drops for seven days, after her visit to the doctor. She also opened up about how difficult it was for the ticks to removed.
“The removal process was quite traumatising,” she said. “I had to hold my daughter in my lap and keep her as still as I could, while the doctor opened her ear up to remove the tick with medical tweezers. There were also two nurses that helped hold my daughter arms and legs to prevent her from kicking the doctor because, of course, removing the ticks did not feel good for her.
In her video montage, DeLoach included one last picture of Averie’s ear as it was healing. She said the child was doing better before urging fellow parents to be on the look out for ticks.
“Her ear about five hours later,” she wrote in the text over the photo. “It bruised for about three days, but Averie is doing just fine now. Be sure and check your babies’ ears after playing outside. Ticks can crawl inside!!! Gross!!!”
Speaking to The Independent she also acknowledged what the message behind her viral video, which has more than 2.1m views, is.
“I posted this just to warn other parents to keep an eye on their childrens ears after being outside,” she said. “Especially when toddlers that can’t tell you if it feels like something is in their ear.”
DeLoach also spoke to People about fellow parents who’ve reached out to her, explaining: “Other parents have told me about similar experiences, even ticks crawling onto their child off of their dog. I’ve learned it happens more than I could have ever imagined.”
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), it’s important to properly remove a tick when found on one’s body.
“There is a lot of folklore about how to take a tick out of your skin. Some people even talk about having a lighted cigarette close by, things like that,” said José Ribeiro, who is the chief of the Vector Biology Section of the Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research in NIAID’s Division of Intramural Research. “The most important thing is just to use appropriate forceps such as tweezers. Grab the whole tick and pull it out.”
The publication also noted that the best way to prevent ticks is by wearing clothes that cover ones’ arms and legs, when outside. People could also opt to tuck their pants into their socks to ensure that their bodies are completely covered, especially when in the woods or on a hiking trail.
It’s also best to remove the tick as quickly as possible, as it takes about 36 hours for Lyme disease to be transmitted from a tick. Per NIH, this bacterial infection, which people can get from “the bite of an infection tick,” usually starts with symptoms like a rash, fever, or headache. If not treated early, the infection can impact a person’s heart and nervous system.
