It is important to 'twist' and the reason is in the design of their mandibles.
One goes in at 90 degrees but the left and right ones go in at an angle, this is what gives them such a strong 'grip' it's very similar to a Rawlplug in a brick wall, as you tighten the bolt the two angled arms widen and make it impossible to pull out vertically. If God did design ticks then he pre-dated the Rawlbolt patent by several thousand years

I think you wil find that twisting clockwise or anti-clockwise has the same effect.

Since I usually use my fingers anti-clockwise is easier as I'm right handed but left handers usually twist clockwise

Hi guys, my name is Lisa and I volunteer for BADA-UK we are a self funded charity that raises awareness about Ticks and the diseases they carry.

I have noticed some good advice on this thread but also some not quite so good. For removal the O'Tom tick twister is proven to be the best at removing ticks and their mouth parts. Never ever twist a tick unless you are using one of them, if the tick feels threatened it will regurgitate all it's gut contents into it's host including the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease. You can if you don't have a tick twister use a pair of very fine nose tweezers, not the ones you use on your eyebrows, as you never want to put an pressure on the body of the tick. Put the tweezers as close to the skin as possible and pull upwards, never twist as the weakest point in a tick is between the mouth parts and the body.

I have 5 gundogs so we get used to ticks quite a bit...with spot ons the only one that repels is Advantix, which I have uses on ours and it worked really well, but you have to keep up with it. Other spot ons the tick has to attach and feed to be poisoned. There are herbal products you can use to as someone mentioned "Billy no mates" works well, but be careful if just feeding your dog garlic it can make them really ill if they eat too much. Also you can use Calendula Oil which can be used on you and the dog, and Flea of Die shampoo is totally natural too. If you have a look on our site you will see other repellents too. Also lots of other information regarding ticks. Thanks for reading I am posting another thread about our Awareness week, feel free to read and I will answer your questions as soon as I can.