How to Build a Naturopathic First Aid Kit

What to Include in Your Naturopathic First Aid Kit

Plus How to Remove a Tick & Prevent Insect Bites

While the spring and summer months bring us some much-needed sunshine and warm weather, with this comes seasonal allergies, bee stings, insect bites (including bites from infected ticks), sunburn, and itchy rashes from contact with skin-irritating plants such as poison ivy and poison oak. There’s also the possibility of injury while camping, biking, hiking, swimming, boating, and playing sports. The list goes on!

To help you prevent and treat bites, stings, rashes, and other injuries this spring and summer, we’ve put together a Naturopathic First Aid Kit which covers everything from how to remove a tick to healing skin wounds, soothing sore muscles, and repelling insects. Read on to learn more about what you’ll find in this comprehensive guide for holistic healing.

A Naturopathic Approach to Lyme Disease Prevention

If you’ve read my recent post for Lyme Disease Awareness Month, you’re already familiar with the many dangers of tick bites and the cocktail of vector-borne diseases they carry. And while bites from infected larval and nymphal ticks can happen year-round, the months of April through September are when ticks are most active — specifically blacklegged ticks and other tick species that transmit diseases such as Lyme, Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, and Rickettsiosis (learn about my Lyme journey here).

Anywhere from 30,000 to 40,000 cases of Lyme are reported yearly, though it’s likely that many more occur and go unreported. So regardless of where you live or how you spend time outdoors, tick bite prevention should be top of mind this spring and summer. Tick-borne disease reporting, testing, and treatment are all far from perfect, but wearing tick-repellent clothing, using products like Permethrin, and knowing how to remove a tick quickly and safely are by far the best ways to prevent Lyme disease.

Some of our favorite tick and insect repellants include:

Picaridin.
Permethrin.
Ranger Ready products.
Sawyer products.
Essential oils like citronella, lemon eucalyptus, juniper, and lavender.
Yarrow tincture.

During tick season, many Lyme experts (including Dr. William Rawls, author of Unlocking Lyme) also recommend taking antimicrobial herbs on a regular basis. Anamu and garlic seem to be the most effective herbs for repelling ticks.

How to Remove a Tick & Test Ticks for Infection

Along with doing what you can to repel ticks and other disease-carrying insects during the outdoor season, it’s important to know how to remove a tick from your body and submit ticks for testing. We recommend using fine-pointed tweezers to remove an embedded tick from your skin and placing the tick directly in a zippered pouch or bag before submitting the tick for testing. TickReport and Ticknology both offer tick testing.

Download our Naturopathic First Aid Kit to learn more about how to protect yourself from ticks, Lyme disease, and other tick-borne infections — and check out the following video from Global Lyme Alliance (GLA) to learn how to remove a tick properly.

After a Tick Bite, Where Can I Find a Naturopathic Doctor Near Me?

In the event that you find a tick on you; experience any potential acute Lyme disease symptoms such as a rash, fever, headache, fatigue, chills, joint pain, and sweats; or suspect you’ve been bitten by a tick or another disease-carrying insect, we recommend scheduling an appointment with your medical provider. Early antibiotic treatment is necessary to prevent Lyme infection.

If you notice a rash anywhere on your body (either a bullseye rash or another type of rash), it’s also a good idea to photograph it and bring the photo to your appointment. Keep a log of your symptoms and bring them — along with this list of questions — to your appointment as well.

In addition to seeking conventional treatment for acute Lyme disease, we highly recommended scheduling an appointment with a Lyme-Literate Doctor (LLD) such as Dr. Fox. Naturopathic doctors use antimicrobial herbs and other natural therapies to reduce your risk of chronic tick-borne disease infection, boost gut health, and strengthen the immune system. In our practice, Dr. Fox and I see many patients with persistent Lyme symptoms and other complex chronic conditions.

Other Naturopathic Remedies for Bites, Stings, Wounds, & Rashes

To prevent and treat other bites, stings, wounds, and rashes during the outdoor season, we recommend keeping the following topical antiseptics, antimicrobials, and pain relievers within reach:

Hypochlorous Acid or HOCl
Silver
Medical-grade honey (like manuka)
Arnica
Hemp-based CBD or CBD/THC blends
Oral analgesics
Bee and insect sting relief (we love Arnicare Pain Relieving Gel and SssstingStop Insect Gel)

Preventing & Treating Gastrointestinal Symptoms

Activated charcoal, GI Detox, Neem Plus, and Melia Supreme are all excellent options for preventing and treating diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms while spending time outdoors this summer. Learn more about these holistic remedies by downloading our Naturopathic First Aid Kit.

We wish you all a happy and healthy outdoor season!

Are you ready to heal from complex chronic illnesses such as Lyme disease or other tick-borne infections? Book a free 15-minute Discovery Call to learn how the Doctor-Coach Model can help.

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