Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: How to remove a leech
• Part 2 of 3: How to Detach a Strongly Sucked Leech
• Part 3 of 3: How to protect your skin from leeches
• Tips
• Warnings
• What do you need

Leeches live in damp thickets and grass, as well as in fresh water. They stick to warm-blooded animals, including humans, and can swell up to 10 times when filled with blood. If you find a leech on your body, do not panic - these parasites do not spread disease and do not hurt. If you are not intimidated by the thought of waiting until the leech is full, it will fall off on its own in about 20 minutes. You can also peel off the worm with your fingernail.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: How to remove a leech

1. 1 Determine where the leech has a sucker head. The head is the narrowest part of the body of leeches, these parasites dig into the skin with a sucker. If the leech has stuck to your arm, leg, torso, or other accessible body part, you can detach it yourself. Otherwise, you will need someone's help.
   • If you find a leech, examine the whole body for any other relatives on it. When leeches dig into the skin with their teeth, they inject an anesthetic, so their bites are painless. You may simply not feel that leeches have stuck in you somewhere else in your body.
   • Remember that leeches are non-poisonous and do not carry disease, so do not panic if you find these blood-sucking parasites on your body. Usually, leeches are easy enough to remove, they do not cause serious harm.
2. 2 Slide a fingernail under the suction cup. With one hand, gently pull the skin near the suction cup and slide your other fingernail underneath. The leech will immediately try to suck again, so remove it immediately.
   • Do not jerk the leech, otherwise it may come off and its suction cup will remain in your body.
   • If you are hesitant to remove the leech with your fingernail, you can use a credit card, a piece of heavy paper, or some other thin object.
3. 3 Treat the open wound. When the leeches suck, they inject an anticoagulant that prevents the blood from clotting until the parasite is saturated. After removing the leech, the wound may bleed for several hours or even days until the anticoagulant is cleared from the body. Be prepared for the wound left by the leech will bleed profusely. Clean the open wound with rubbing alcohol or another disinfectant from the medicine cabinet, and then apply a bandage to protect the damaged area.
   • The bleeding may continue for a while, so the dressing should be changed regularly.
   • Take the affected area as seriously as you would any other open wound. This is especially important if you are in a rainforest, as there is a higher risk of infection.
   • During the healing period, the wound may itch.
4. 4 Consider letting the leech fill up and fall away on its own. If you can wait, an easy way to get rid of the leech is to wait for it to fall off on its own. After about 20 minutes, the leech will become saturated and lag behind your skin. The leeches do not suck out a lot of blood so you can worry about blood loss, and since these parasites do not carry disease, they are practically harmless, so you can not disconnect the leech until it falls off on its own.
   • For millennia, leeches have been allowed to suck human blood for medicinal purposes; leech therapy remains relevant today. According to the FDA (FDA), leeches help with circulatory problems and promote tissue reunification.
5. 5 Do not disconnect the beer in any other way. You may have heard that you can remove a leech by sprinkling it with salt, burning it, splashing it with insect repellent, or immersing it in shampoo. Although these measures can cause the leech to unhook and fall, it will only do so after it has regurgitated blood back into the wound. This can cause a serious infection, so only use your fingernail or other thin object to disconnect the leech under the suction cup.

Part 2 of 3: How to Detach a Strongly Sucked Leech

1. 1 Check how deep the leech has penetrated. Sometimes these parasites penetrate the openings of the body: nostrils, ear canals, mouth. This often happens if you swim in a place where there are many leeches. In such cases, it can be difficult to reach the leech and remove it in the usual way. Before trying other methods, do your best to detach the leech in an easy way.
   • See if someone can help you and get to the parasite's sucker. Be extremely careful. Do not use this method if you cannot see the leech.
   • You can wait until the leech is full and disappears, but if it is in a narrow place, it can swell and get stuck.
2. 2 If the leech gets into your mouth, use rubbing alcohol. If the leech has entered your mouth, you can rinse it with vodka or another strong alcoholic beverage to make it fall off. Rinse your mouth for about 30 seconds, then spit it out and check to see if the leech is behind.
   • If you don't have alcohol on hand, you can use hydrogen peroxide.
   • If rinsing does not help and the leech does not lag behind, you will have to seek medical help.
3. 3 Pierce the leech if it gets too large. If you are far from settlements and there is no opportunity to immediately seek medical help, it is possible that you will have to pierce the leech. You may be able to remove the leech in another way, but if it has entered a hard-to-reach place, such as a nostril, there is a danger that it will make breathing difficult. To prevent this from happening, take a sharp knife and just pierce the worm. While not pleasant, it will die as a result and make it easier for you to reach it.
   • Remove the body of the leech and rinse the damaged area immediately.
   • Seek medical attention as soon as possible if there are signs of infection.
4. 4 If you are unable to remove the leech yourself, seek medical attention. If the leech has penetrated deep into your nose, ear canal, or other place where you cannot reach it, see your doctor to remove the parasite. The doctor has the necessary tools with which he can remove the leech in a suitable way.
5. 5 Seek immediate medical attention for signs of leech allergy. Although very rare, leech allergy is possible. If you experience dizziness, a rash, difficulty breathing, and swelling, take an antihistamine (such as diphenhydramine) and seek medical attention right away.

Part 3 of 3: How to protect your skin from leeches

1. 1 Be careful where leeches are found. Ground leeches can be found in the rainforests of Africa and Asia. Leeches are also found in freshwater lakes and ponds around the world. If you are planning to visit areas where leeches are found, take appropriate precautions to minimize the risk of them sticking to you.
   • Ground leeches are found in swampy and overgrown areas of tropical forests. If you stay in one place for a long time, leeches can slide towards you. Avoid touching trees and other plants and check often for leeches.
   • Water leeches are attracted to movement, so try to splash less when in the water.
2. 2 Wear clothes with long sleeves and pant legs. Leeches are attracted to the bare skin of warm-blooded animals. Long sleeves and long legs will protect you from bites, although leeches can crawl under your clothes. If you are afraid of leeches, you can wear gloves and put a hood over your head.
   • Wear closed shoes instead of sandals.
   • If you have a long trip through the rainforest, consider purchasing anti-leech socks.
3. 3 Use insect repellent. While the repellent will not completely protect against leeches, it will partially repel them. Spray your skin and clothing with standard insect repellent and reapply every few hours while in the area where leeches are found. Here are a couple more ways to scare off these parasites:
   • put tobacco in socks - it is believed that leeches do not like its smell;
   • rub your palms and clothing with soap or other detergent.

Tips

• To protect yourself from leeches, you should first of all wear closed shoes and long socks. Alternatively, you can use insect repellent, the smell of which will prevent the leeches from detecting your presence.
• Check your feet and other parts of your body that leeches can hit so that you can spot them in time before they suck a lot of blood out of you.
• The leeches die when they get caught in salt or get caught tightly in the tissue. Salt and dry tissue take away moisture from leeches, and they dry out. However, in this case, the leech can regurgitate the sucked blood into the wound, which greatly increases the risk of a life-threatening infection.
• If you find a sucking leech, remember that it is just a defenseless animal that needs food.
• Remember that not all types of leeches feed on blood.

Warnings

• Leeches also bite domestic animals such as dogs and cats. A small animal can get a leech in the eye. In this case, DO NOT try to pull or crush the leech, and DO NOT sprinkle salt on it. Wait for the leech to fall away. After that, the animal's eye will swell, but the swelling will go away in a day or two. If the swelling persists, see your veterinarian.
• Do not apply shampoo, salt, or insect repellent to the leech while it has sucked onto your skin, as the parasite can regurgitate blood back into the wound and cause infection.
• Do not pull on the leech or try to pull it off your skin.
• If you have many large leeches stuck to you, seek medical attention.

What do you need

• A fingernail, credit card, scrap of paper, or other thin, stiff object
• Paper towel
• Insect repellent
• Closed shoes and socks