I remember the one and only tick I've ever seen was when I was a kid. I found it on my thigh, half dug into my skin, when I was going to the bathroom. I started screaming bloody murder. I don't remember how my parents got it out, but I think it involved a lighter. It was pretty traumatizing.

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Mom to Christian (13), Saphira (10), Xavier (5), and Adrian (2).

They say not to use lighters and matches now. I remember as a kid we used matches, but now they say just to use tweezers and pull slowly and make sure you get the head out.
LOL I can picture this clearly since my 2 oldest children have both had one on the inner thigh and I heard the panic in their screams as well.

We're fortunate that our dog has very short hair. Dh is also good at feeling them.
The first time I saw ticks was on a horse's chest. I tho't they were some kind of skin tag; they were the size of a marble! I had no idea they were actually tiny bugs. shudder

I grew up in the woods, so ticks are just a regular thing to me. It's like mosquitoes. We don't like them but we learn to deal with them.
They do seem to be worse this year (as are fleas!!) because of the mild winter.
You do have to make sure you remove the head. If they get imbedded it can cause an infection.
We use a hot match. Light it, blow it out, then stick the hot part to the tick. It takes a few times but usually they'll die and let go. Or just fall off. If not we use tweezers to slowly pull them off so that the head doesn't come off and remain in the skin.

I hate ticks too. They were bad here early in the spring, we had the mild winter too. I had dh put out some granule stuff for ticks all over the yard, all around the house, all around where we go in the edge of the woods, and the doggy bathroom area. She is an inside dog but we put the K-9 Advantix on her in summer and a cheaper generic flea stuff in the winter. I was ready to put the Advantix on us LOL. We were finding them on us every time we went outside. We finally got rid of them I guess, haven't seen anymore since last time we put the stuff down. Of course mosquitoes have been horrible, and spiders have too. They are everywhere outside.

I HATE ticks!!

Oh.. yeah, Spiders have been bad! We have to keep spray handy because we are finding them all inside the house.

My mil sent an email with this info in it. Not sure where she got it, but it seems like a good method.

"Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick
with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few
seconds (15-20); the tick will come out on its own and be
stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away.
This technique has worked every time I've used it
(and that was frequently), and it's much less traumatic
for the patient and easier for me.."