What Are the Common Symptoms of Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease is a serious infection that is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. This type of bacteria is found in small animals such as deer and mice. It is more common in grassy areas where these animals live. The infection can be transmitted through tick bites. When the ticks that feed off animals that have the bacteria in their bloodstream bite people, the bacteria are transmitted. The problem is that ticks are often hard to see, and when do see them, most of the time they have already bitten us.

It is imperative that we should watch out for Lyme disease symptoms, especially if you have kids that love to play on the grass. Most of the time, we tend to overlook tick bites; don’t worry because not all tick bites result to Lyme disease. But you still need to know how to identify it just in case. Early identification of the symptoms will help prompt you to seek medical help, which can drastically lessen the severity of the disease.

Lyme disease has a lot of symptoms because it can affect multiple systems of the body. It can affect the heart, the skin, the joints and even the nervous system. Lyme disease symptoms usually occur in three stages, although sometimes, not all three stages appear.

The first stage of the disease begins with the appearance of a circular rash. It usually appears one to two weeks after the tick bite. Although, this is a confirmatory sign of Lyme disease, there are a lot of people who do not develop one. The rash is often called a “Bull’s-eye” rash because of the way it appears. There’s a red spot in center or red rings. The usually isn’t itchy or painful, but it can be warm to touch. Sometimes, it might look like a bruise, especially on people with darker skin tones. Usually, the rash will go away in a month or so.

The second stage begins when the person start to develop flu-like symptoms such as muscle ache, headache, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes. They usually appear several weeks after the patient has been bitten by the tick, even if the rash did not appear. These symptoms may go away on its own but they may also become much worse. Sometimes, even more rashes may appear. If the infection reaches your heart, it could lead to irregular heart rhythms and chest pain. If it spreads to the nervous system, it could cause numbness and tingling sensations in the extremities or facial paralysis. If neck stiffness and headaches occur, then it is definitely time to see the doctor because these may indicate meningitis.

The last stage happens if the early stages of Lyme disease are left untreated and when arthritis of the larger joints start to occur. It could happen anytime, ranging from weeks to even years after the tick bite.

Lyme disease can have a lot of different symptoms, but once you know that you or a loved one have been bitten by a tick, any one of these symptoms should prompt you to see the doctor. Don’t wait before the symptoms progress, because the doctor doesn’t need more symptoms to diagnose if it is Lyme disease or not. Blood tests can determine if it is indeed Lyme disease and the treatment can begin as soon as possible. Remember, early treatment equals better prognosis.