Lyme disease is caused by tick bites and can have flu-like symptoms. The characteristic bulls-eye rash may appear a few days after the bite, but its absence does not mean a person is free of infection. Other symptoms should also be considered, and ticks should be removed and evaluated for disease.
Lyme disease is a disease caused by exposure of humans to bacteria carried by certain types of ticks, mainly deer ticks. It can have a variety of symptoms, including flu-like symptoms initially. When the disease is left untreated, these can later progress to arthritic conditions in a variety of joints, mood changes and deterioration of muscle function. Another symptom that may be associated with this disease is the Lyme disease rash. While this isn’t seen in all people who get the condition, it can be something to look out for and is a good indication of infection. Being able to recognize the Lyme disease rash is important, but it should be emphasized that its absence does not necessarily mean a person is free of the infection.
The characteristic rash is often called a bulls-eye rash. This is due to the way it appears a few days after its initial appearance. At first, the rash doesn’t feel like a target. Instead, it tends to look like a red bump, basically resembling an insect bite.
The bump is usually right at the site of the tick bite, so if people know where a tick bite occurred, they might circle the area with a pen to see if that area develops skin irritation. Many people choose not to have ticks evaluated for Lyme disease and instead wait for the indicative rash to appear before seeing their doctors. This may not always be the wisest course.
What tends to happen next in the standard rash is that the redness spreads and the size of the rash can range from about one to five inches (2.54-12.7 cm) in diameter. As the rash spreads, the core may begin to fade. So there’s a red center, a red exterior, and a faded center, which looks a bit like a dartboard or dartboard.
While it would be ideal if this rash would always develop, it doesn’t. Sometimes people have a number of bumps on their skin and other times they don’t have a rash. The time to development can also vary, and people may show the onset of a Lyme disease rash a few days after a bite to up to a month later. What it does suggest is that looking for the rash alone may not be the only diagnostic guideline people employ when deciding if they have Lyme disease.
Certainly, the presence of bull’s-eye rash is an important indicator, but people should be aware of other Lyme symptoms. It is also highly recommended that people have ticks removed from skin being scanned for disease, as this can suggest a degree of risk. The development of other symptoms after a tick bite is also valuable diagnostic information, and those who have been in the areas of Lyme ticks recently, even if they have not noticed a bite and do not have a rash, should mention this to doctors if they develop fever, chills, pain, and other flu-like symptoms.
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