Old tick bite

I was bitten by a tick in March.  I don't know how long it was attached because it was high on my back where I can't reach.  My SO was careful to remove the tick, and I thought he got all of it.  Ever since then, the bite area has been cycling through these periods of normalcy when it fades away to nearly nothing, just a slight pink area, flat, and then it raises and becomes itchy and irritated again.  Months later, it is once again quite itchy, and I'm very frustrated.  Should I just put hydrocortisone on it and trust time for healing, or do I need a topical antibiotic, or since it's been so long, should I just go see the doc?  It's about 4 mm around when irritated and raised without a "head."

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Pam:

It's hard to remove a tick without leaving some of the mouth parts in the skin, which can cause a foreign-body reaction.  Whether that is what you have, I cannot be sure, because you describe a transient, intermittent irritation, which doesn't "fit" with persistence of tick parts.  Or it may be that the intermittent irritation is coincidental.

If the problem persists, have a doc look at it (when "it" is actually there . . . )

Best.

Dr. R