How to remove a leech

Few years ago I got myself a leech having lunch on my foot while walking through the Malaysian forest.
Unfortunately I hadn't read much about leeches, but I knew that salt, cigarettes or soap could make the thing vomit and possibly create an infection. It took me some time to figure out how to remove the animal without killing it.

The thinner end is the oral sucker of the leech

So here are some pictures I took of the whole operation in case I didn't survive.

I also added the correct recommendations on how to remove a leech safely.

You can wait until it finishes feeding. That can take from 20min to 2 hours and is perfectly safe.
If you don't want to wait, take your pocket knife or use a long fingernail.

the leech quickly looks for another surface to suck on

Identify the oral sucker (mouth). It should be the thinner end of the leech. You can pull it very gently to identify the right end.

Than take your flat and blunt object and gently break the seal of the sucker. Insert the tip of your knife between the mouth and your skin and it will loose it's sucking power. (you may test that operation at home with any plastic suction cup)

Then quickly do the same operation for the other sucker (the posterior end) which should be on the thicker side of the beast.

2 hours after, still bleeding

The wound will bleed for a long time due to an anticoagulant named hirudin.

Don't mind about the bleeding, you have enough blood. After washing it with soap and water, apply some pressure on the wound and let it dry well before covering it.

The bite doesn't hurt at all.


In tropical climates be very careful to keep the wound dry and clean. It can get infected very easily and take weeks to close.

It is possible to get diseases if the leech bit an infected person before (HIV, Hep B), but very uncommon.