Why It’s So Hard to Get a Lyme Disease Diagnosis
If you have ever come home from a hike in the woods and saw the telltale red bulls-eye rash forming, it’s a pretty safe bet you contracted Lyme disease from a tick bite. From there, doctors can easily diagnosis you with Lyme disease and start you on antibiotics treatment.
Unfortunately, the road to a Lyme disease diagnosis isn’t always as straightforward. Since more than 30 percent of Lyme sufferers never develop the classic bulls-eye rash, a lot of people are unaware they have been bitten by a tick and have the disease. Patients are then stuck with undiagnosable symptoms or are misdiagnosed with other illnesses. By the time they realize a tick-borne illness may have been the cause of their ongoing pain, it’s usually past the point when antibiotic treatments are effective.
Another part of why it’s so hard to get diagnosed with Lyme disease is that there is a misconception that you can only get Lyme disease if you live in the northeastern part of the U.S. It’s true that a large portion of Lyme disease cases occurs in that area of the country—but you can still contract the disease anywhere in the U.S. There simply isn’t enough education about Lyme disease outside of that region of the country, leading to misinformation around this common disease.
Lyme disease is a notoriously difficult disease to diagnose. Unless you go to a Lyme-literate doctor who understands the complexities surrounding the symptoms and who listens to your concerns, you could be misdiagnosed and live with symptoms for years.
