Lyme Science Blog

Why Lyme Antibiotic Resistance Matters Lyme antibiotic resistance is an emerging concern in patient care. While resistance is often discussed in the context of hospital-acquired infections or global health, it also affects those with tick-borne diseases. Patients with Lyme sometimes require multiple antibiotic courses, especially if the infection is diagnosed late or involves the nervous […]

Lyme disease in adolescents doesn’t always start with the classic bull’s-eye rash. Rashes can appear as solid red patches or unusual shapes, sometimes mistaken for spider bites, eczema, or skin infections. Teens may also show signs like fatigue, irritability, headaches, or limb pain. Because symptoms vary so much, misdiagnosis is common. That’s why healthcare providers

A new study has revealed alarming trends in chronic pain across America — prevalence jumped from 21% in 2019 to 24% in 2023, now affecting 60 million adults. While researchers attributed about 13% of this increase to long-COVID, a significant portion remains unexplained. As a physician specializing in tick-borne diseases, I believe we’re missing a

Spinal Taps: A troubling trend I’ve noticed a troubling trend in Lyme disease care. Some patients are being told they need a spinal tap (lumbar puncture) to “rule out neurological Lyme disease.” While spinal taps are important in cases like suspected meningitis, their role in evaluating Lyme is much more limited. Too often, patients go

Why Lyme Rash Misdiagnosis Happens When most people hear “Lyme disease,” they imagine the classic bull’s-eye (erythema migrans) rash. In reality, that textbook image is the exception, not the rule. Fewer than half of patients develop the bull’s-eye pattern. Instead, the rash may appear as a simple red patch, multiple spots across the body, or

Abandoning Lyme patients violates the core principles of medical ethics. A woman in her 40’s came to me after months of searching for answers. She had been a successful business executive, traveling weekly and leading a large team. Now, she could barely get through a video meeting without losing her train of thought. Fatigue left

Why Lyme Disease and Exercise Deserve a Second Look In my clinical practice, I’ve worked with patients who could barely walk across the room—let alone exercise. But I’ve also seen those same patients regain strength, mobility, and hope when we introduced the right kind of movement at the right time. When Lyme disease is part

What gender bias in Lyme disease can look like She first came to me after two exhausting years of symptoms that refused to show up on routine tests. Her knees and shoulders ached unpredictably. Her neck was stiff. The fatigue hit her like a wall every afternoon—“bone-deep,” she called it. Brain fog made it hard

Some Lyme patients delay care for a few days. Others for decades. And it’s not always for the reasons doctors assume. In fact, the behavioral barriers to timely Lyme disease care — uncertainty, fear, dismissal, logistics, stigma are also seen in other serious but preventable conditions. Understanding why Lyme patients delay care is critical because

The Reality of Working Sick with Lyme Disease Struggling with Lyme disease and working sick is an all-too-common scenario for patients who feel forced to push through fatigue, pain, and brain fog just to keep their jobs. Many describe it as a daily balancing act — choosing between financial survival, responsibility to family, and the