I spoke at the2017 Central Mass Lyme conference this past weekend. My talk focused on the leveraged value of prevention over treatment. In “Make your home a healing hub” I shared ways to clean up your home, your life and lower the load on your detox channel. Other experts spoke on preventing tick bites new testing and the latest treatments.
The conference was a great opportunity for learning, support and community for people with Lyme disease. The speakers covered many key issues for recovery. There is so much misunderstanding about the nature of tick borne illness. With Lyme disease accurate information is power, power to get the help you need to heal.
Over the course of the day several things struck me. One was how long and how much effort it takes to rebuild wellness after chronic Lyme disease. I asked the room full of people I was speaking with how many of them had been dealing with Lyme disease for more than 5 years. 2/3 of the room put up their hands. I put up my hand.
Preventing Tick Bites is Key
Five years, 10 years is a long time to focus on recovery. Would that my doctors recognized what was going on in my body much sooner. If everyone who has Lyme helps save one person from getting infected or reinfected, from the pain and struggle of chronic Lyme, now that would be something but maybe not enough. Every parent, aunt, uncle, needs to learn and teach kids about how serious this disease can be.
With Lyme disease information is power, get informed, get tested get treated, get better.
Tick borne illnesses can be tough to beat, no doubt. It really drives me to teach and focus on prevention. The idea of new people getting sick and not getting the help they need quickly, makes me crazy. A teenage girl in a wheel chair from Lyme disease brings tears to my eyes. I hope that this never happens to another youngster again.
In my talk I emphasized the need to prevent toxic build up by removing them from your home environment. I talked about how it is so much easier to keep them out than it is to detoxify after the fact. Reducing the toxins making their way into your body is the way to go with Lyme disease to help your body heal.
Preventing tick bites and the possible resulting infections is also the way to go. Not all ticks carry disease, but many in New England do. Some sources suggest that upwards of 50% of ticks in our area carry disease.
Take the simple steps to leverage protection and prevention activities. Check out my Manage tick exposure page for my approach. The work to prevent tick bites and treat them immediately is minor in comparison to the mammoth effort to treat chronic Lyme disease and heal the devastation long term infection causes. So many lives have been hurt, we need to take action to protect ourselves and our children.
Teach Your Kids Preventing Tick Bites is Important
Dr. Nancy Fox wrote a book for family use to teach kids to protect themselves. She also spoke at the conference. Hide and Seek: No Ticks Please gives well organized information in story format to share ways to prevent tick bites.
Every kid in New England needs this understanding to protect them from unnecessary harm. Nothing is perfect, but protecting yourself and your kids while you enjoy the outdoors is wise. Preventing tick bites depends on consistent behavior and inspection. Use the resources on my site or in this book. Get educated about ticks. Teach yourself and your kids the self care habits they need to minimize tick exposure.
The information provided on this blog is not a substitute for professional medical care, treatment or advice. All the material here is for information purposes only. Always share strategy and work with your health care team.