The Easy Way to Remove a Leech!

No – it doesn’t only happen in the movies. Leeches can be picked up from any body of water but they are also known to be on land. Should you find yourself face or face with one of these creatures, keep your cool, they are fairly harmless and they are fairly simple to get rid of!

Contrary to popular belief, you do not want to use salt, heat or any other product on a leech. Those things can cause the leech to vomit into the wound they inflicted before they detach themselves and the vomit can cause an infection or even disease!

You have to find the head first – the narrow side of the leech will be the head, the body will be swelling due to them ingesting your blood.

Using something flat – fingernails, piece of bark, anything flat will do – slide in under the head of the leech quickly and in one swift motion. This will detach the leech without causing it to vomit right away.

The body of the leech is attached with a suction as well, you will need to use the same object as before to slide it under the body of the leech in the same way you did the head.

In this case, 2 hands will be better than 1 because you don’t want the leech to bite you again before you can remove the body. If someone else is available, have them help you! Once you have removed the head and the body, fling that sucker back into the water, or a far away as possible.

A leech wound can be treated fairly simply. Wash the wound with regular soap and water and then cover it with a band-aid or something similar. It will probably bleed a lot more than you would expect, because leeches release anti-clot enzymes into the blood stream so they can drink freely. Check the wound every few minutes to see if it is still bleeding and change the bandage as often as you need to.

If you are afraid of removing a leech on your own, you can always leave it on your skin. They will detach themselves after about 15-20 minutes. Once they get their fill they detach and drop off for digestion. This method will not really cause you any more harm then the initial leech bite already has, although it may creep you out to sit and watch a leech sucking blood from your arm for 20 minutes.

If you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of having a leech inside your mouth, nose, ear or something else, again, they will remove themselves, but may have more trouble if they are stuck inside something. In this case it is wise to seek medical help for removal.

Just keep an eye of the area where you were bit. If you removed it carefully following the steps above, then you should heal up nice in a couple days and be infection free. If you do start to notice an infection occurring, see you doctor immediately!