Customer Success Story

Spring is here and a great time to be in the countryside, walking the dog or with the family. Ever since a friend of mine, John told me how he contracted Lyme’s disease through a tick bite, I am rather wary when we went on our walks.

John told me that Lyme’s disease is an infectious disease transmitted to humans via ticks.  When the tick bites they sometimes transfer spiral-shaped bacteria known as spirochetes. The spirochetes bacteria can enter the blood after remaining localized in the skin. Lyme’s disease has the potential to affect multiple organs and the bacteria, known as Borrelia burgdorferi can attack the heart, brain, spinal cord, joints, eyes and skin.

In his case, it all started a day after the walk, when he noticed a circular rash around what had been a tick bite.

Within two days, he said he had flu like symptoms a high temperature, feeling hot and shivery, headache, muscle and joint pain, tiredness and loss of energy. He was diagnosed with Lyme’s disease and suffered headaches, muscle and joint pain, tiredness and loss of energy for months after the bite. John received medical treatment and it took over six months for him to recover.

Ticks spend most of their three year life hiding in leaves and trying to avoid drying out. From time to time, when the conditions are right, they climb up the vegetation in search for animals to suck their blood. They are blind and cannot see us, but they can sense the carbon dioxide we breathe out, the vibrations we make as we walk and the body heat we emanate. They wave their front legs around, and when a mammal or human gets close enough they will actually climb on.

Since they are after blood and they’ve probably been waiting quite a while, with humans will walk up the skin until they find an area like the back of knees, waist, armpits or groin, and begin to feed. Surprisingly most people do not initially feel the tick bite and it sucking the blood. Some people are fortunate enough to get away with a bite and a small loss of blood, but if the tick has been infected with the spirochetes bacteria, then it is highly likely the victim of the bite will end up having Lyme’s disease.

The best defences against Lyme’s disease is to prevent tick bites. The most extreme preventative measure would be not to leave the house, but that is not practical.

Well I was really pleased to come across TotalSTOP Deet-free Icaridin Insect Repellent.

TotalSTOP insect repellent provides long-lasting, 12 hour effective protection from ticks and other insects.

TotalSTOP insect repellent is Deet-free, odourless, water-resistant, non-greasy, non-sticky, non-toxic, non-irritant, easy-to-use, low-absorption and lasts all day.

So I was excited to be able to go on my woodland works with friends and family without having to worry about some tick sucking our blood, and potentially infecting us.

And That’s not it!  TotalSTOP insect repellent also provides long-lasting protection from other insects like: No-see-ums, Gnats, Biting Flies, Stable Flies, Sand Flies, Chiggers Scottish Biting Midges and other types of insects.

Also when we head on our vacations down to the Caribbean, I now always pack TotalSTOP insect repellent and TotalSTOP wipes, that way the mosquitos stay away from us, meaning a far more relaxing vacation.