Late summer and early fall in East Tennessee is the perfect time to make fun outdoor memories. Take a few minutes to google Smoky Mountains. You will find pages of activities ranging from hiking, biking, camping, horseback riding, fly fishing, tubing, and picnicking. The adventure options are endless. Start making your plans!
Summer. Outdoors. What could possibly go wrong?
A small, hidden danger looms. One of the biggest threats to safety is no bigger than the size of a poppy seed. This risk lays hidden in wait among the leaves, transported amongst the wildlife, and even visiting your yard. This risk is the well known summer pest—the tick. The female tick lays about 3000 eggs in the spring. Peak feeding time for the larval ticks occurs in August. This requires a blood meal from either an animal or unsuspecting human. As the tick molts into an adult – another peak feeding time occurs from October through November.
So what is the big deal with a tick bite? If bitten, most never see or feel the tick bite. The big deal is Lyme.
The classic finding of the tick bite in Lyme disease is the bull’s eye rash. Many people deny ever having the classic bull’s eye (erythema migrants) rash characteristic of Lyme disease. Less than 50% of people with diagnosed Lyme disease recall a rash, let alone a tick bite at all. A search on PubMed reveals thousands of studies of different tick borne microbes that include viruses, protozoa, fungi, and bacteria. All ticks carry microbes. Some ticks carry pathogenic microbes, including the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi that is responsible for Lyme disease. A strong immune system will block tick borne pathogens making any infection or illness unlikely. However, if your immune system has been compromised through aging, chronic disease, physical or emotional stress, processed foods, or toxic overload, you have a greater likelihood of becoming miserable from the bite.
If acute symptoms of Lyme disease are recognized and treated early, the success rate of treatment is very high. However, for many people, the initial tick bite and Lyme diagnosis is not made early due to to the gradual, progressive nature of the symptoms. The scientific evidence points to treatment failure rates for Lyme disease up to 50% mostly because of the delayed diagnosis (61% delayed for more than 2 years). The symptoms often go unrecognized, undiagnosed, and unreported. But, just like a pot of boiling water will eventually erupt, symptoms such as unusual malaise and fatigue, migrating joint and muscle pain, weakness, intestinal distress, anxiety, depression, poor sleep, and brain fog may eventually overwhelm the body. Symptoms can mimic everything from chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia to MS, ALS, and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Lyme disease is known as the great imitator!
As overwhelming as the symptoms of Lyme disease are, treating Lyme disease can be equally overwhelming. One treatment approach involves multiple types of antibiotics, even IV antibiotics. Other treatment approaches incorporate selective herbs, nutrients, and healthy lifestyle modifications. This includes controlling inflammation, restoring immune function, suppressing tick-borne bacteria and other microbes to repair damage to the body and to promote healing. Both modes of therapy can and should be incorporated at the same time to optimize and expedite healing.
Fortunately at Forum Health Knoxville, we can help you with the complex diagnostic lab testing of Lyme disease and with the implementation of a personalized restorative program for you. For many, Lyme disease seems to be a diagnosis of doom. At Forum Health Knoxville, we seek to teach your body how to heal itself. After all, the Latin word for doctor is teacher and the Hebrew word for physician is healer. We seek to eliminate the doom, the diagnosed labels, and the compromised life-style of chronic fatigue and multiple debilitating symptoms so often present in Lyme disease. If you are committed to improving your life, then there is great hope for you. Our unique evidence-based therapies can benefit anyone who wants to heal their body and maximize their health.
To your Health!
Would you like more information? Get in touch with us today
