As tick populations grow (thanks, climate change) and tick-borne diseases like Lyme become more widespread, tick checks have become routine for many of us. But do you really know what it means to “check yourself for ticks”? Chances are, you’re missing some important parts of the process.

You only need a tick check when you've been in the woods

Are you conscientious about tick checks when you're camping, but only when you're camping? Ticks live in more places than just the woods, and most parts of the U.S. are home to at least one tick species. Check these tick maps from the CDC to get a sense of whether they’re in your area and which tick species to look out for. Dog ticks are found just about everywhere. Some tick species are only found in the eastern half of the country, while Rocky Mountain ticks and western blacklegged ticks are generally found out west.

Ticks live in grassy, brushy, and wooded areas, the CDC notes. Growing up in Pennsylvania, I always thought of the woods and farm fields as the places you pick up ticks. But years later, I now know there are ticks in my own backyard, as well as parks and other areas that don’t fit the stereotype I had in my head. I’ll do a tick check whenever I’ve spent time near tall grass, leaf litter, woods, or brush—which includes pretty much anywhere I go in the summer. Don’t forget to check your kids for ticks, too.

Skipping the shower

If you think of a "tick check" as an isolated chore, it's easy to forget. But if you make sure to take a shower after you've been outdoors, it gives you an opportunity for a thorough check as you're undressing, and will possibly wash off ticks even if your check wasn't so thorough (or if you forgot to do it entirely). The CDC points out that taking a shower within two hours of getting home from an outdoor outing has been shown to reduce your chances of getting Lyme disease, and probably also reduces your chances of other tickborne diseases as well.

Ticks crawl around for a few hours before they find a place to attach, so there’s a good chance that unattached ticks will wash off during the shower, whether you see them or not. As a bonus, you also have several hours to wash off the oils from poison ivy before it triggers a rash. A shower is always on my to-do list after coming home from a trail run. The other benefit of taking a shower after you get home is that it gives you a chance to get naked—and that’s when the real tick check begins.

Missing critical areas of your body

The first place I always check is my lower legs. Ticks need to stay close to the ground while they’re waiting for a person to walk by, so you won’t find them climbing trees and dropping down from above—that’s a myth. They chill on the ground, then climb a stalk of grass. If they haven’t found a victim, they will return to the ground to rehydrate for a bit. That means they’ll usually contact your lower legs first, so if you just got back from your hike, check your ankles, shins, and knees right away.

Over the course of the next few hours, they’ll climb upward. It’s not uncommon to find ticks on your upper body, or even in your hair, if they've had enough time to climb. So check these harder-to-see spots, which I’ll list from bottom to top:

- The backs of your knees

- Between your legs (use a mirror...sorry!)

- Inside your belly button

- In your armpits

- Behind your ears

- In your hair

A mirror or a partner can help you to see those out-of-the-way places. If you have kids, check them over while you help them get ready for a shower, or when you change their diaper.

Not knowing what you're looking for

Look up the species of ticks that live in your area, and make sure you know how big they are and what they look like. Ticks grow as they go through their life cycle, with the smallest being about the size of a poppyseed. Adult ticks can be anywhere from the size of a sesame seed to the size of a corn kernel, depending on the species and whether they have fed.

What do you think so far?

Before ticks attach, they crawl around, and you might mistake them for other kinds of bugs (and vice versa). There are lots of little bugs you can pick up from outside that aren’t ticks. If you want to take an educated guess at whether the little guy you found is a tick, check the number of legs. Ticks are arachnids, so they have eight legs.

You may find an attached tick during your check—or, if you’re unlucky, sometime the next day after you should have done your check. An attached tick doesn’t usually hurt. You might just notice a little scab or mole where there wasn’t one before, and when you take a closer look at it, you discover it’s got legs. Ew. Go get the tweezers or your handy-dandy tick removal device. (I’m partial to the TickKey.)

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Five Common Mistakes People Make When Checking for Ticks