Lyme disease after tick bite: These are the symptoms of the disease

Symptoms after tick bite

Why Lyme disease is an insidious disease

17.07.2019, 08:23 | ade, mw, t-online.de

sharing
pin
Twitter Print
emails
editorial office

The tick-borne disease borreliosis, also called Lyme borreliosis, is often recognized late. This is especially the case when specific symptoms such as wandering flush do not occur. A Lyme disease diagnosis is therefore not easy to make.

Overview of the

This can have fatal consequences for the patient, as the disease can be easily treated with antibiotics, especially in the early stages. If it is treated too late, it can have serious long-term consequences.

Disease caused by tick bite: Lyme disease

Unlike early summer meningoencephalitis (TBE), which is transmitted by viruses, borreliosis is caused by bacteria. After several hours of sucking, the bacteria in the tick’s intestines can be transmitted to humans and cause an infection. It can take a few days or several weeks from the tick bite to the first symptoms.

Questions about the tick: Mistakes and interesting facts

Photo series with 7 pictures

Lyme disease is divided into three stages

If an infection by Borrelia remains untreated, the course of the disease is divided into three stages. The individual phases of Lyme disease are associated with various signs and symptoms. The sequence and intensity can vary. It should also be noted that not every patient exhibits all tick bite symptoms.

Wandering flush and fever: The most common symptoms in the first stage of Lyme disease

Immediately after the tick bite, a mostly circular and sharply defined redness appears on the skin. The so-called wandering redness (medical: erythema migrans) can sometimes disappear after a few days, but in other cases it can still be visible for weeks.

Info: When reddening, make sure that the diameter is slowly increasing and the centre is paler.

Further symptoms of the first Lyme disease stage are:

general fatigue
fever
night sweat
unspecific muscle and joint pain
swelling of the lymph nodes

Nerve disorders are classic symptoms in the second stage of Lyme disease

In this phase of the disease, the pathogens spread in the patient’s body. The period can range from one month to six months after transmission. The nervous system can become dysfunctional, with signs of paralysis and pain. The facial nerves are often affected. This can manifest itself in a so-called facial nerve paresis, i.e. paralysis of the facial nerves.

Further symptoms of the second Lyme disease stage are:

sensory disturbances
fever
headaches and neck pain
Circulatory and heart problems
meningitis or encephalitis

Chronic complaints: Symptoms in the third stage of Lyme disease

The symptoms of the third stage only become noticeable months or even years after the tick bite. Patients complain of painful joint inflammations. The knee and ankle joints are often affected. The skin of the affected person becomes thinner and can turn bluish. Chronic inflammations of the brain and spinal cord are further signs in the third stage of Lyme disease.

Neuroborreliosis: What is it?

Neuroborreliosis is when the central nervous system is infected with borrelia. Neuroborreliosis can occur in different stages of the disease. Chronic or acute neuroborreliosis is associated with changes in the nervous system. The spectrum of symptoms ranges from motor and sensory disorders to paralysis and psychological changes.

Important note: The information is in no way a substitute for professional advice or treatment by trained and recognised doctors. The contents of t-online.de cannot and must not be used to independently make diagnoses or start treatments.