What Causes Redness,itching And Swelling On Back?

Posted on Wed, 23 Apr 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 23 Apr 2014 Answered on

Tue, 20 May 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : Yes I had a tick stuck on my back in the shoulder blade area last Thursday. My husband removed the tick with tweezers and we looked to see if it had its head and legs and we thought it had. As of this morning the spot on my back is itching and looks like a bug bite-a little swollen, what could this be a sign of?

Answered by Dr. Geetika Paul (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Allergic dermatitis due to contact with insect

Detailed Answer:
Hi

I understand your concern regarding your skin problem and I hope I am able to help you in the same .

The redness itching and swelling that your husband has developed is simply a reaction of the skin to contact with a tick. The body secretions of these insects provoke an allergic reaction over our skin. Since you seem to have cautiously removed the entire tick, it is less likely that any of the part of the insect is probably there in the skin. Moreover, if there was some part of the tick in there, it would have rather causes swelling with pain signalling an infection.
So now you need to take local care of the area with application of a topical steroid cream like cortisone over the affected areas twice a day .
Sometimes in addition oral antihistamine like claritin once a day is required to bring the vector dermatitis lesion under control.
In most cases, this helps in solving the problem .

Hope that answers your query

Please ask if you need any further clarifications

Dr Geetika Paul

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar