Lyme disease is a disease caused when humans are exposed to bacteria carried by certain types of ticks, primarily deer ticks. You may have a variety of symptoms, including flulike symptoms initially. When the disease is left untreated, these can later progress to arthritic conditions in a variety of joints, mood swings, and impaired muscle function. Another symptom that may be associated with this disease is the Lyme disease rash. Although this is not present in everyone with the condition, it can be something to watch out for and is a good indication of infection. Being able to recognize the Lyme disease rash is important, but it must be emphasized that its absence does not necessarily mean that a person is free of infection.
The Lyme disease rash is often called a bull's-eye rash. This is due to the way it looks a few days after it initially appears. At first, the rash does not look like a bull's-eye. Instead, it tends to resemble 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 the 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 tested for Lyme disease and instead wait for a rash to appear before seeing their doctors. This may not always be the wisest course.
What usually happens next in the standard Lyme disease rash is that the redness spreads and the size of the rash can vary in diameter from about one to five inches (2.54-12.7 cm). As the rash spreads, the center section may begin to fade. Thus, there is 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 always developed, it doesn't. Sometimes people have a number of bumps on their skin and other times they don't have any rashes. The time of development can also vary, with people showing the start of a Lyme disease rash as little as a few days after a bite up to a month later. What this suggests is that rash screening alone may not be the only diagnostic guide people employ when deciding whether they have Lyme disease.
Certainly, the presence of a Lyme disease rash is an important indicator, but people should be aware of the other symptoms of Lyme. It is also highly recommended that people remove ticks from skin tested for disease, as this may suggest a degree of risk. Developing other symptoms after a tick bite is also valuable diagnostic information, and those who have been to Lyme tick areas recently, even if they did not notice a bite and do not have a rash, should mention this to doctors if they develop fever, chills, aches, and other flu-like symptoms.