I've had luck removing ticks with oragel or ambesol... seems to numb the tick and the skin and they come off with no complaints. My sister jumped all over me for it though, saying you shouldn't put anything on the tick because that can stress them out and make them puke.
Ticks are so freakin nasty... and of course plentiful in this area.

Yeah, I got an email this morning from someone that went through a lot of crap with Lyme disease. He said the Tick Borne Disease Clinic told him soap would make them think they were suffocating and puke.