Brown Recluse Spider Bite
(more...)
Written by Jim on August 5th, 2007 with
362 comments.
Read more articles on Spider Bite Pictures.
- [+] Digg: Feature this article
- [+] Del.icio.us: Bookmark this article
- [+] Furl: Bookmark this article
(more...)
Related spider information
Leave a Reply
when i was around 14 years old, i was bit twice by a spider on my leg (knee and back of knee) in my sleep. the next morning, it itched like crazy. i thought it was just a normal ant bite. but when i saw it, it was purple! i knew no ordinary ant could do that! for the next three days, i didn’t touch it. i just saw my skin begin to disappear and a giant hole take its place. when i would walk, it would ooze blood and pus. the front bite just turned into a huge purple bump with nothing but a small hole on top. the bite on the back of my knee was about the size of a quarter all around with a white core in it. we finally went to the emergency room because i started having cold sweats and chills. the doctor gave me antibiotics and took a specimen of it.
when i got home, i grabbed my tweezers, a bottle of alcohol, and i snatched that white core right out of it. the alcohol burned like a bitch. to the front of my knee, i applied as much pressure as i could to the hole, and watched the pus descend from it like lava from a volcano. the pain was unbearable.
GO TO THE DOCTOR . it probably saved my life. the only thing i have from it are my memories and my scars.
ive been bitten so many times by the brown recluse that it doesn’t effect me like it used to …tiny…scab…gone in 6 weeks.like snake handlers,the body gets used to it…
I was bitten on the wrist at the first of the summer. Let it go until the pain was so bad I couldn’t bare it.. Hole the size of a quater.. Finally seeked help. The docters said they couldn’t beleive I made it that long without serious damage.. Now.. After that mess is all cleared up.. I have another bite just above my elbow on the same arm.. Already Streaking red up my vains.. Off to the doc tomorrow.. From Oklahoma… Where we dont worry so much about gangs and guns, but but fear these eight legged freaks!!!
i just killed a spider that looked like a brown recluse. Thank god i wasn’t sleeping when it came in my room. Anyway i need to know if there is the possibility that there are more of them and if so how to get rid of them
I’m concerned I might have got bit by one of these a few days ago while getting winter clothes out for laundry. The bite is on my thumb, in the same place as the one showed in the picture. It caught my attention because of it’s peculiar appearance, it looks nothing like the usual sort of scrape or minor injury one gets around the house. It’s definitely an insect bite of some sort. When I first noticed it three days ago it had a pin prick sized dark spot surrounded with pinkish tissue slightly swollen. The area is about 1/4” in diameter and has not gotten any larger. Today the center part has gotten a lot larger and the scab fell off. It’s not itchy or anything and I don’t feel any ill affects. I’ll be keeping and eye on it and keep you updated in the next few days.
Reading some of your letters and thought I would hopefully help someone out. Ok 1st My name is Dennis…… back in july 09 I was asleep and got bit several times down my left arm starting at the elbow and the lil guy worked his way down.
I didn’t notice at 1st and thats not unusual according to what I’ve read. I noticed a few days later when several ???Water bubbles appeared on my arm followed by redness around the bite areas, intense pain (felt and still does feel like nerve damage), and then the actual bite area bubble busted and left slight tissue damage that are now scars. I know it to be a brown recluse bite b/c of the area where I lived was in Gadsden, Ala which is B.R. country , I identified about 30 B.R. around the apt., there was one on the couch when I awoke, and I worked for a pest control company….so yeah I know it was a recluse. Its been months now since the bite and Ive lost some strength in my left arm and I still have shooting pain from the elbow to the thumb.
The bite I received is the most common…..(1)you wont usually know that you got bit (2) Most wont get the big hole from a bite that you see in so many pix….these are extreme cases. Although even regular bites are very painful. (3) Spraying B.R.’s doesn’t really help b/c most pesticides have to be ingested and since spiders dont clean there self like a roach you have to spray directly on them for it to work (Sorry
) Best way to help if you have an infestation……. (A) Keep a clean house as BR’s are night hunters and will feed on dead insects (B) Make sure your house is sealed as best as possible (C) Glue traps work to catch the BR’s (D) get rid of any cardboard that is just laying around(E) if you know you have a problem its a good idea to take something and stuff in your shoes at night to keep one from crawling in them as they like dark places……..
The apt I MOVED FROM I est. at least 100 to 150 spiders….it was a bad infestation as BR’s can produce young at anytime of the year and they can live with out food or water for 6 months (the one I caught lived in a ziplock bag for a week with no food,water, or air….so they are tough) They use there spider web usually as just a hang out for daylight hours and will come out usually a couple hours after dark to start there nightly patrols. The web looks kinda pressed against the wall and real messy looking with a funnel in it usually….. there webs are not as uniformed as most spiders. Anyway I can help feel free to email dray1111975 [at] yahoo.com.
Well it has been 8 or 9 nine days since the bite and I’m happy to say I’m pretty sure this is not a recluse bite. If it is then I don’t seem be reacting to it badly. The wound has not grown at all, it’s the same diameter (about 1/4″) as when I first noticed it. It does have that volcano shape to it but the center area is healing and the scab didn’t fall off again and is actually getting smaller. The scar tissue is the same color; pinkish and a bit flaky skin, but it doesn’t hurt or itch at all. I’m pretty sure it’s gonna heal up fine. I feel lucky. I’m going to be extra careful from now on!
to KJR…I just read your post about going through clothes while bit. I was going through some boxes of clothes that someone gave me to put in a garage sale and was bit by something. I felt it immediately…a very sharp pain and removed my hand quickly saying “Ouch!”. Upon removing my hand, I noticed three very small while marks (which looked like bite marks to me) in a row. Within an hour my thumb began swelling and looked like the picture posted. Within two hours it was terrible looking. I quickly went to the doctor and was given some antibiotics. It took care of it right away and healed very quickly. I’m just thankful I went in right away!
Don’t tell people not to panic, it’s not something you can help. You SHOULD go see a doctor right away though if suspect a brown recluse bite, even if you don’t have insurance. (that’s what ER’s are for! JK.) but seriously better to owe some money than end up with a hugh hole in you and then being sick for years. I became interested in this site after reading Linda Ladd’s ‘Dark Places.’ Probably not the best book (mystery/suspense) for someone that’s been bitten but if you’re just interested it’s well written, it gave me the creeps. To all-hope you all stay/get well, and remember STOMP THE SPIDERS!
I was bitten by a spider 2 weeks ago. When I woke up I noticed a small itchy spot on the back of my leg. By the time I got off work that day it was the size of my hand, and the next morning it was the size of both my hands. A large purple splotchy and very tender area, plus several red splotches scattered on that leg. The Dr. gave me 2 steroid injections, 1 antibiotic injection, and put me on oral steroids/antibiotics/anti-inflammatory for 10 days.
At one time I had 5 blisters the size of my thumb, all would repeatedly drain and refill but one blister stuck around longer and had a slightly bloody discharge. The nerve pain up the inside of my leg was horrible. If I sat still for 30-45 minutes, the nerves would start to burn like I had scratched a really bad sunburn, but walking always relieved the pain. The muscles underneath are very hard, and the whole purple area is very sensitive to touch. I’m on day 15 and still taping a piece of cotton sheet around my leg to keep my clothes from rubbing it as I walk. I hope the worst is over!
I wasn’t even aware that I had been bitten, I had some pain and thought that it was just an ingrown hair, or boil or a pimple. I tried to squeeze it but it was just to painful. By day #2 I couldn’t get out of the bed for anything, my fiance came home from work that evening, looked at me and said, “we are going to the E.R.”. I was very reluctant, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Once in the E.R. I was triaged and immediately taken to a room and prepped for surgery.
I thought I would simply get some antibiotics and pain pills and go home. Instead I got a 4×4″ wound to pack after being in the hospital on morphine for 4 days. The doctors told me that I was bitten by a brown recluse spider and if I had waited 1 more day it might have been too late. I had cellulitis on my entire trunk and had lost all of the color in my face, which was what made my fiance take me in. Thank God all that I have left is that beautiful scar.
Once, I had about six mosquito bites on my left leg, making a wierd connect-the-dots pattern. They itched so badly that they turned darker, and started to look like they were sprouting veins. My parents flipped, rushed me to the doctor, and it turns out that they were just ’skeeto bites after I scratched too much.
Well, now, something different is going on. Two nights ago, I guess I got bitten by something in my sleep, because I woke up with a pretty itchy arm. I thought it was a mosquito bite, since mine tend to swell up quite a bit before they go away. This one was smaller, and I just heated up a wet washcloth and put it on the bite to stop the itching. It worked. Then today, as I went out to breakfast with my parents, I noticed my bite was itching more than normal. I just made a little ‘x’ on the center of the bite with my nail to stop the itching, but it didn’t help. That might not be healthy, so I won’t do that. It’s actually two tiny bites, now that I really look at it. My mom put iodine on it earlier, but somehow, the second bite is untouched by it. The bites are pretty swollen, and there seems to be hardened tissue underneath. I’m pretty freaked, I hate spiders, but my dad’s gonna take me to the doctor tomorrow to get it checked out. Should I leave or remove the iodine? Please respond, I’m sick of always fearing the worst of spider bites when it’s actually just an allergy to mosquito bites.
I got bit by a brown recluse on Thursday 12/3 sometime between 2-6 am. I work up & couldnt moove my left are & my shoulder felt like some1 hit me w/ a hot metal bat. I touched my shoulder on the outside of my shirt & popped a GIANT blister. My daughter saw my shoulder b/4 I did & ran screaming out of the room. I sent to girls 2 school & ended up in the ER with a bite the size of my fist. It was just blisters so the stupid ER doc told me I had an allergic reaction to my new medicine I was just put on & was sent home. My hubby came home @ 1:00 & I was feeling like I had been hit by a truck.
He does pest control for a living & took 1 look @ my arm & took me back to the ER & raised hell. Today I have a doc appt 2 decide whether 2 admit me & knock me out 2 clean off the dead tissue (the area is the size of my hubby’s fist and the dead tissue is HARD as a rock). I still get little blisters that pop up daily leaking the yuck/poison out. The night I got bit, we bought a new TV & brought the cardboard box into to house. NEVER open cardboard boxes from dept. stores in your house. My hubby spent the next 2 days spraying & bombing the house. We moved in with my father-in-law for 2 days.
The 1st night back, I saw a spider that looked like a B.R. I killed it & then flushed it. Now I wish I would have saved it to show my hubby. I HAVE ALWAYS HATED SPIDERS!!!!!
I have been nursing a bite now for almost 5 months. This is my second bite. The first one was upper leg and at first we didn’t know what it was until it started eating into the flesh. I was able to get it under control and heal without medical visit. However the one I now just won’t go away. Anyone identify with this?
Thanks
I realized I got bit on Sunday morning At first (like someone else on here… ) I thought it was a cigarette burn because I went out the night before. But I remembered I was wearing a sweater, an old sweater from my mother in law. It looked like a whelp with a purple small center and red and swollen around the outside about 2 inches total. It is very tender to the touch. Sunday night i felt two blisters coming up. Monday there are blisters surrounding the purple area. Going to the doctor today….
I live in Middletown, Ohio and had just returned from a trip to Mexico on a Sunday evening on August the 1 2005. Where I live we were having a bad dry spell and had just moved into a new house with new landscaping and what not, I went out to water the flowers that were just put in about 10 am, I did not feel anything bite me at all. Just went about my business watering bushes and flowers of all heights. I went inside itching on my thigh very bad, only an hour later my leg had a small red dot that looked like an infected hair. The itching began to turn into an intense pain, but I went on that night just as normal as any. I could barely sit or stand at all.
That night I tried to sleep but hurt so bad I couldn’t at all, that next morning I told my mother about my pain and she looked at it, being an ex-nurse, she picked at it thinking it was a bad infected hair herself. I did in deed put heat on it to try and make it feel better, but it only made it worse. That night my father tried putting a lit match into a plastic bottle and sticking it on the spot now sticking about half an inch high and was a quarter in diameter. It did not work. I did the opposite of what you are suppose to do once more and slept with a heat pad on my thigh only making it worse once more. I laid around for three days, it got to the point I could not walk without having someone hold me up so I went to see my grandmother and she told me to cut a potato and place the meat part on my thigh and let it draw the infection out, so that night I did and also placed the heating pad on it to help it draw even faster.
I woke up screaming in pain that night. I went to the hospital in Middletown and every doctor that looked at my thigh, now completely red and a huge bump sticking about an inch and a half off my thigh, turned around and ran out of the room. I was put on antibiotics and pain killers for two weeks. I was instructed to visit the local Urgent Care everyday during the two weeks for any changes that may occur and need medical attention. I was lucky when I visited the Urgent Care the next day and had a doctor from Arkansas, a major Brown Recluse Spider bite state, and he knew what it was right off the bate from seeing the red skin and black dot in the middle of the high bump.
I was instructed that the skin would be eaten away from infection caused by the venom and it would have to be drained and that once it began to drain I needed to come back in for further medical attention. It took two days for the antibiotics to kick in and attack the infection and then start to open a small hole to let pus drain out of. I pushed on the outer sides of the spot down, being careful to not push in a pinch manner. It drained for three hours in long nasty thick yellowish/green/black bloody gushes. It stunk so horribly bad that my mother and sister went away and vomited multiple times, and they have strong stomachs! I was able to get up and walk much better but still hurt really bad. I went to the Urgent Care again and had the doctor check my thigh out. He pushed down to see if any more infection and pus would surface only to have more and more. He moved me into a surgery room and cut open the place on my leg a little to wet-pack my leg. This is when they take Iodine soaked ribbon and stuff it into your body. It hurt like nothing I have ever felt before! I could walk fine before being stuff with ribbon and now I could barely even breathe I hurt so bad again.
I went back that next day and had the ribbon taken out. It was swelled with more infection. I had all the black dead skin cut away, did not feel any of it being cut too, and it repacked again. I went back the next day and had it unpacked and repacked. For a total of two weeks after it had first been packed I was having it wet-packed. Finally what infection and venom the doctors could get out was out I was on the road to healing. I could drop a quarter straight down into my thigh and still have room all around it to get my fingers into the hole. It went through every layer but two, almost to the bone. I could look down it and see blood vessels it had ate through. It took about three months to fully heal and not be considered an open wound. I kept it sprayed out with salin and covered with gauze and a medical wrap every day. When I showered I kept my leg out of the waters range to keep from getting it infected again.
Most times it was covered as well. It has now been a little over four years and I have a scar the dents into my thigh a half inch and is the size of a quarter. To this day I have days it is almost impossible to get out of bed because I hurt so bad and con not move. I have weeks were I am fine and don’t really have anything to worry about but maybe a stiff leg or jolt of comforting pain, and then there are times where I hurt so bad I hurt to sit or lay.
I urge anyone who thinks you may have a spider bite to get it checked out. You do not know what kind of insect really bit you to begin with unless you killed it when it happens. I did not even know I had been bitten, so I doubt anyone can tell it. Do not spray to kill bugs, this attracts the “Brown Recluse”, they love to feed on dead insects. I found out from the doctor who took care of me, that spraying only brings them in. There are spider traps which you can check into and I suggest investing into them. Always stay on top of throwing garbage out so you do not have flies and others bugs roaming around your home getting left overs, this also draws in spiders of all kinds. I hope I am of any help to anyone who has encountered a Brown Recluse.
GHJ
I was bitten by a brown recluse spider in July and now in December it has begun to heal. In September I underwent vascular surgery. Has anyone had vascular damage caused by the brown recluse spider bite?
Thank you.
Diane
Diane: Post #317
How far did the damage go and how long was the bite active before discovery of it being a B. Recluse?
Can anyone tell me if I have a spider bite or maybe staph? I noticed a bump (like ingrown hair) on my forearm. I popped it thinking that was what it was. Now it is be coming a hole. The middle is yellow but it is not puss. Looks more like dead flesh. The drainage that comes from the wound is a clear liquid that never ends
the bite has to be lanced and drained, then the hole filled with iodine and aggressive antibiotic treatment. I was bitten on the leg by one and the person who worked on it was a corpsman back in Vietnam. He was used to dealing with unusual insect bites. You have to cut it and squeeze all the puss/blood/venom out and then fill hole with iodine.
The bite was almost two months old before it was determined that it was a brown recluse spider bite. At first they thought it was a fungus, then ulcer and were treating it with peroxide. The ER determined it was a brown recluse and sent me back to a podiatrist. The toes turned blue and the wound Dr. sent me back two ER a couple of weeks later where vascular damage was found in the leg with the bite. The
actual bite was on the left ankle bone.
This morning I noticed a tiny red bump on the side of my arm below my wrist that looked like a bug bite of some kind. I only noticed because I bumped it against something and it was very painful. Soon after I noticed another bite farther down and more to the side on my arm. I didn’t think much of it, since I live in Florida and get bitten by mosquito often.
However, I was taking a bath later on and saw that the first bite (near my wrist) has a red squiggly line coming out of it. That sounds slightly silly, but I have no other way of describing it. It is pretty faint, which might have been why I didn’t see it before. It does not show up well with my cell phone camera, and that’s all I have.
If anyone has any advice for me or has had similar experiences, etc. please reply.
I was wondering if anyone has had a bite return after it had healed? I have a ercluse bite that took almost 2 years to heal.. it was terrible. It was biopsied and that was the result though after all the tramua from everything it developed Pyoderma Gargrenosium. It finially healed and 8 months later reopened in the same site. Another biopsy with the result Brown recluse ( or arthropod attack is what it said)… now here we are again with woulnd care , pain and more surgury to try skin graphs. This has been a nightmare!!! Has anyone had it came back???
Has anyone ever had a bite clear totally up and then come back again? Mine cleared after a very long time wound care and was gone for 8 months and now is back and worse than before….ANYONE???
Caught this little quarter-sized bugger taking a stroll across the living room carpet, so at least I know where the bites are coming from. By the way, 30c Ledum has worked for me on three bites. The last one is finally going away.
I was bit on Friday night on my ankle by what im assuming was a brown recluse..it seems to be the popular spider to blame. Saturday i wasn’t in much pain then Sunday came around and it was bothering me pretty bad. I didnt think much of it though. Then i woke up monday morning and as soon as i got out of bed i fell to the ground the pain was so bad. I went to the doctor and he scraped the little scab away to get any puss out then because the bite damage spread into my joint(i had troubles walking) he gave my a shot right away. I dont know what the shot was. He then gave me Bactrim DS tablets and told me to take them one tablet twice a day. it tuesday night now and it still hurts really bad :/
helllo! i just wanted to post a comment about my sister. well anyways she has been bite by a spider and we dont know what it was. her arm was swole and very sore so we took her to the hospital. they said whatever it was was moving too fast to be a brown recluse. i think it is because the pictures look just what her arm looks like. i just would like to know what it was.
– brianna
Tammy Peacock, I cannot give you an exact location on the internet but somewhere it does have information on reoccurrence of these bites. If I remember correctly, it said if the site of the bite was in some way hit or bumped it could come back. It also said they sometime come back at the anniversary time of the original bite. I hate to give you this news as I have gone through months of pain, vascular surgery and enough dressings to supply a hospital. I was checking everything under brown recluse spider bites when I found out about this. I’ll keep you in my prayers.
diane
Post 327: from my research, if the bite has been properly taken care of it will not come back. However it is entirely possible that you could have reinfected the bite area. This should be taken as an entirely new episode and have it looked at by a physician.
Ok about 4 days ago i noticed that i had a redness around a small what looked like a pimple on my right breast. But after another day it got very swollen and even redder, family told me it was a ingrown hair or boil. It has been bugging me, so i started to take antibiotics n cleaning the area with peroxide and alcohol.
the swelling went down and the redness went away a little, so i thought nothing of it. But about a hour ago i looked at it and i noticed that the scab on it had came off and it looked like white puss inside. Then i put peroxide on it and i noticed there is a hole there. Tomorrow i am going straight to the e.r. so that i could get some medical attention. Very worried and scared I will be sure to keep you all posted I will post pics up soon.
For the person who asked what (mercer) = MRSA is: MRSA infections, some times known as Mersa infections, are caused by Staph aureus bacteria. This bacteria is carried by 1 in 3 people but the drug resistant type known as MRSA is only found in about 1% of the population. MRSA colonization does occur in otherwise healthy people but often mrsa carriers will not suffer an infection until the staph attacks an illness, wound or graze area. Antibiotics used against these staph infections often encounter multi-drug resistant strains (MRSA), which are often acquired as a result of hospital infection. Community Acquired MRSA is a different type of mrsa bacteria. It mainly causes skin infections and can be treated by more drugs. It does however spread faster and can do more damage than the hospital strain to those it infects.
This is just to let others know what I found out, the brown recluse’s bite does not always form a pimple, sometimes it a bite with a black spot in the center. In Texas it’s a common spider. I got bit, just thought it was a scorpin, later a spot on my leg swelled up and turned black, I keep squeezing it and a liquid came out was putting tinactin on it, it went down after a little time. I don’t rember how much later I was bitten again. This time I saw the spider. In total I have been bitten 5 times. I developed algeries to a lot of things around me, willow trees, cats, rye grass, etc.
While getting seen by a doctor, I told him all this was caused by the recluse, he didn’t think so, I asked if he wanted me to get him one to see. He said yes, so I got him a good size male and gave it to him, after it was dead. He took it to who ever id these things and they told him yes. The reason I tell you this is sometimes when you get bit, you can give off something that will attract them back to you. My husband used to call them my pets. They would crawl across him to get to me. A nurse there also said that they come after you sometimes. It does not always happen, but sometimes it does. This is just a word to the wise. After the allergy shots they stopped. I watch them to learn their ways and I’ve killed everyone I have found.
After 7 months, I had it cut out. Took 2 layers of stitches, skin taking 10. Dr. said it was a recluse.
My name is Phillip and I live in central Florida with my wife. We just recently moved into our first home. I was bitten on Thursday and didnt notice the bite until later that afternoon. It had a white head on it so I assumed it was a pimple so I popped it. Just some advice, if your not sure what it is dont mess with it. I was squeezing the hell out of this thing and I later learned that because of this I spread the venom further into my hand. Im a chef by trade so this was problematic for me.
The pain that I feel is undescribable, it feels like 3rd degree burns. My wife researched spider bites and came across this website. When I seen the picture of the brown recluse bite it scared me because it looked exactly like what I had. I had her take me to the E.R and they wound up giving me a tetnis shot and some antibiotics, as well as some pain pills. Im still in a lot of pain but see some progress. For those of you that have a high tolerance with pills you might wanna consider self medicating. Here is my bite.
Get bentonite clay onto the spider bite in the first 24 hours and leave on for several days.
This will absorb the venom before it spreads and causes necrotic tissue.
I’ve been bitten before and didn’t use clay and it took years to heal properly. With clay the site healed within 3 days didn’t fan out with redness and more importantly didn’t reoccur after the treatment. My old bites keep coming back every few months (irritation/rash).
I’ve treated at least 4-5 bites with this method and I have no problems at all.
I wish everyone the best and please don’t cut or scrape or use cortisone…they are all useless methods !
Also note this method doesn’t work very well if you apply it 48 hours after the initial bite
“I was wondering if anyone has had a bite return after it had healed? I have a ercluse bite that took almost 2 years to heal.. it was terrible. It was biopsied and that was the result though after all the tramua from everything it developed Pyoderma Gargrenosium. It finially healed and 8 months later reopened in the same site. Another biopsy with the result Brown recluse ( or arthropod attack is what it said)… now here we are again with woulnd care , pain and more surgury to try skin graphs. This has been a nightmare!!! Has anyone had it came back???”
God the doctors are absolutely clueless here. They treated my first bite with silvadene, antibiotics, saline drips and were proposing skin graphs. It was almost like the 1930’s when they treated infections by excising the infected skin from the body. Barbaric!
I didn’t listen to my doctors and the bite eventually healed on its own (with help from some creams I described below)
The old bite does reoccur. I have tools to control the breakout when it occurs but if you dont get the venom out in the first 48 hours it gets stuck under your skin and will keep erupting periodically.
I use bioheal from skin biology and aquaphor healing ointment in combination when a previous bite erupts. It usually goes back to normal the next day — but its like a fight for a few weeks to get it back under control. Then it goes dormant for a few months and the cycle starts again.
My original bite is now erupting less and less each year so I think your body does get rid of it eventually…but I guess I am trying to warn others so you do not have to have this annoyance in your life. Proper wound management in the first 24 hours can save years of hassle.
Cheers
DISCLAIMER TO ALL POSTS BY ME (JUST ABOVE)
These posts are not Medical advice, I am just sharing my experiences. What works for me doesn’t necessarily mean that it will work for you as we are all different.
Always see a competent doctor for diagnosis/advice/treatment of spider bites/wound management etc.
I believe i was bitten during a Rally we had in our town, it was first week in Sept of 2009 and trust me it turned ugly very quickly. I ended up in the ER 3 times,before they knew exactly what type of spider bit me and i had to go to a hospital not even in my town,these doctors here didn’t seem to concerned but the last doctor i seen in Middletown NS Canada knew exactly what type ad what to do and just how long it’d take to heal and he was exactly right,and to this day i still have the scar on the back of my leg…I lost 3 weeks of work due to it,and it took 6-8 weeks to heal and it still bothers me from time to time…Was the worst pain i have ever experienced,i couldn’t drive for for weeks,was nasty….I am sending 2 photo’s i took back in Sept…
i think i got bit lastnight in my sleep but im not sure. When i woke up this morning my arm was hurting and it was just white looking with red around it. well when i got to school it started hurting really bad (i couldnt even touch it bad). now my arm feels like it is starting to go numb and im really scared after reading everyones stories and seeing the pictures. i think im going to sign myself out and go get this checked out before it gets any worse then it already is. Can anyone help me??
I was bitten a few years ago by an unknown spider, all I remember of it was it was sore, red, had a blister and a white stringy thing. I didn’t go to any doctors though or take anything for it. I did go swimming in a pool with chlorine though after the blister had opened.
I have a crater like scar on my thigh with a small bump in the center. I am trying to figure out what kind of spider could have bitten me but I had no major symptoms.
On Tuesday March 16, 2010 I was at work and I felt an itch on my middle right finger. I scratched it and thought nothing else about it. That night it started to turn red and itch more. At around 0100hrs. On Wednesday March 17, 2010 my middle finger at the point of the original itch started to get very red. On Thursday March 18, 2010 my finger was starting to get even redder.
This was only on my middle right finger. On Thursday March 18, 2010 around 0200hrs. it felt like someone struck my finger with a hammer. Thursday afternoon I went to Urgent Care to seek medical help. The Doctor advised me that I was bit by something, probably a spider. Without seeing it or having it with me, it is impossible to know exactly what bit my finger.
As of Monday March 21, 2010 my bite has spread to my pointing finger. The bite has formed a blister. I am scheduled to see the Doctor again today March 22, 2010 at 3pm.
What am I supposed to look for in a spider bite? i have two bites on my stomach one in which it is very irritated and the other that looks like it bruised and made a circular bigger bruise. it doesn’t hurt a lot but once i press on it , it kinda is sore and the one that is irritated is swollen about the middle and well i don’t know if it is a boil or spider bite..Can someone understand this? Should i go to the er??
i was bitten twice right above ny left breast directly over my heart battled it for 6 months…i’m lucky because i didn’t need reconstructive surgery. i used to love spiders now i’m terrified. i had a whole nest of them in my bed and live only in homes that have lots of light. they love the dark!
I was bitten on the left leg by a spider on April 22, 2010. I am not sure what kind of spider it was. I could not find it. Around the bite is a red area of about five inches in diameter. Then to top that off I got bit again on April 25, 2010 and again I could not find this spider. This time I got bit three times on the face two above the left eye and one below the left eye. By early Tuesday morning (1:47) my left eye had swollen shut. I went to the emergency room and the doctor confirmed that it was definitely spider bites which I already knew. I was prescribed an antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, steroid, and something called pro-biotic to calm the stomach. I came home Tuesday night and bombed my apartment. I cannot afford for my three year old son to get bitten by this spider that feasts on human flesh.
Last year during orientation at the University of Kentucky where my son was to attend college in the fall, We were sitting under some trees and I felt something that resembled more of someone touching me with a lit cigarette on the top of my left foot. I kicked and never did see what it was. The next day the site was really itching but still at orientation with my son so when we got home that night it was really itching and turning red and starting to swell, so I went to immediate care here they loaded me up on antibiotics, steroids and pain medication. The very next day I noticed that the redness was covering the entire top of my foot and starting up my leg so I went to the ER.
I knew it was a bite and I felt strongly it was a spider because whatever it was had fallen out of the tree we were sitting under. I was admitted into the hospital (4 days) Doc said it was MRSA and that most spider bites will cause it. That was in July 2009 it is now April 2010 and the skin on the top of my foot is really tough and it still itches like mad some time. The surgeon that I seen said that I was extremely lucky to have kicked it off because he didn’t get to inject me with much poison but it has been a constant aggravation for the last 9 months they all tell me that it will not be completely healed for 1 year.
I had one more comment after reading one the post above he said that his kept erupting and almost one year later mine is still doing it, nothing serious my toes will swell up and the bite site will erupt and we start all over again but with no infection. It itches worse than anything I have ever felt, more itching with me than pain any pain I felt seemed more like it was coming from the swelling in my foot. So the gentlemen in a previous post said that if you don’t get the venom out within 48 hours it will continue to erupt like that which again is more of an aggrevation than anything..so if you suspect you have been bitten by anything please run don’t walk to the nearest ER I waited two days before going thinking it would go away and it landed me in the hospital for 4 days and a year later I am still aggrevated.
I Got Bit, This is my Remedy
At first I didn’t know what I was bit by, but later I discovered it was a Brown Recluse Spider.
I was bit one night under my left arm and I it formed a Hugh mountain like pimple with a white circle around it. It itched like crazy and I am an old Union Carpenter and if it itches then common sense tell you to scratch it. So I did with a carpenters Stanley knife razor blade pulled out of the knife of course. Back and forth and back and forth I ran the blade of it until it was bleeding, but it sure felt good. Several days later the wound began spreading down my arm like it was alive and eating my skin and spreading at a rapid rate. Pretty disgusting. I was afraid it would keep going so I went to the doctor. He gave me a Cordizon shot and told me that if I didn’t do what I did that he would have had to amputate my arm. The Cordizon shot really didn’t seem to help because it kept spreading more and more, eating my skin as it went. I prayed and looked over at my bed stand and saw a little old bottle of Iodine my Mom gave me as a kid. I said to myself try it, it can’t hurt. When I swab it over the open wound it was like the poison spider venom started screaming and it was killing it. I started swabbing it 3 times a day and it started healing. It took about a month for it to go away completely. So I Thanked God for helping me find the Iodine and healing me. If you ever have this spider bite you, scratch it with a blade and then apply Iodine immediately and it will take care of it. Thanks for reading, God Bless…
Hey everyone, I was bitten by a brown recluse on May 5th, 2010 at about 3am. Yes, I know there are skeptics and those who say or think they were bitten by a brown recluse that were not. I, however, was truly bitten by a brown recluse. I live in Kentucky and was in bed at the time of my bite. I was awoken by a tickling on my throat just below my adam’s apple area.
I went to scratch and laid my hand directly on top of the spider, feeling it’s legs I pinched it between my fingers and tossed it into the floor. After several minutes of shuttering and cringing at the thought of a spider on my neck I carefully got up and turned on the light. It only took me a few seconds to find the gnarly dead bugger laying in the floor. I didn’t really pay attention to what kind of spider he was till later that morning, around 6am, when I looked in the mirror and saw two red fang marks on my neck. I then decided I better take a look at him…when I did I felt my concern rise. My concerns were well deserved, after a doctors visit and being told by my doctor that it was not a brown recluse, but put on amoxicillian, steroids, and a broad spec. antibiotic cream.
The next day I was discussing my bite with a professor at Western Ky Univ. and my doctors findings. My professor asked to see the spider, which I still had in my bag in a medicine bottle, when he saw the spider he asked to show it to another professor. I agreed and later was informed that it had been sent to The University of Kentucky’s Entomology Dept. where it was confirmed as being a brown recluse. Please know that not all doctors are qualified to identify spiders/bugs/ect… and please know that you cannot identify a brown recluse bite by symptoms or looks.
There are many reasons for people’s flesh to be eatin away, one of them is called Necrotizing fasciitis. If you, for any reason, have symptoms of this, IMMEDIATELY see a doctor, this is a serious situation! As for the brown recluse, bites from them DO NOT always mean rotting skin or possible tissue removal of any form. There are plenty of reasons why that is, please remember that information on the internet is not always totally accurate, so be careful and only ask those who are qualified to answer your questions.
My bite is very uncomfortable at this point and I’m 5 days into it…however, I have no blisters, YET, and no rotting flesh. I hope this helps those of you who are truly concerned about a bite or possibly a skin infection. *I am sending photos of my bite and of the actual spider that bit me.*
now my opinion on a spider bite is that you will always need to get ti checked out cause my friend who works that this store i go to all the time was in the hospital for a month cause she got bitten by a brown recluse when she was doing laundry it was hidden in a dark place where she couldn’t see it…
Now people there are many different spots one of these could hide they like to hide in the dark under furniture and other places where they will feel protect now if you make them mad or provoke them they will attack you no matter i should know i got bit by one last night and im the same antibiotics as maddi and yes it does hurt really bad
I was bitten by a brown recluse in ‘98 nobody knew what it was. It started as a little tiny circular bite. I went to three different doctors and they all thought it was ringworm. It kept growing in roundness and then I saw the poison streaks and somebody suggested bleach. I dabbed bleach on it and it developed a very gross green scab. Being thirteen I peeled it off and all the ooze came out. It got a red scab and healed up. I have a weird looking scar that’s bumpy and has no skin coloring, but hey if it weren’t the bleach it could’ve been a lot worse.
last summer my two year old was bit by something on the knuckle of his index finger…it started out looking like a mosquito bite, but in a few hours it was so large and his hand so swollen that he couldn’t move his fingers! He also got a high fever…I took him to the doctor and told them that I thought it was a Brown Recluse bite, but the doc just laughed it off saying its not possible cuz we are in ND and brown recluse don’t live here…two days later he could hardly move his lower arm and the fever was still there, so I tool him to our chiropractor who deals a lot with vitamin and herb therapy…she said it definitely looked like a recluse bite and she put some TEA TREE OIL on it and told me to do so every hour! Well, by 7:00 that night the swelling had gone down so much that he could move his fingers a small bit, and by morning the fever was gone and all there was on his hand was a small bump with two little punctures in it!!!
This morning I came across a spider is a dish my kids left in the entryway…it was about the size of a dime, black/dark brown and had a grayish white stripe down its back…from the pics I’ve seen on here, I would guess it was a recluse, but I am not sure…is there any way to kill them?…I have 5 young children and do NOT want to go through that same thing again.
Thanks
wow i only thought it bruised you!
I live in Nebraska and about three days ago I woke up with a sore on a very sensitive back part. Me and my girlfriend spoke about it and she told me that it was the beginning of a boil the last couple days passed and it slowly began swelling and became very painful. I managed to look in a full body mirror yesterday and after some contortionist (sp?) acts get a pretty good look at it. I noticed right off the bat that it had a deep dark core and knew then that it was no boil. So I googled a very long search indicating the look as well as my feelings (symptoms) the last few days. Of course this site appeared first in my search and after reading thru entries came to this one which matched everything perfectly so I went to the doc today and he no longer looked at it when he confirmed my fears it was indeed the bite of a brown recluse which is already beginning to form a crater.
He is optimistic that with the medications and various things he told me to do that it will heal on its own without complications. Whats even better is now knowing we have that spider in this house and what to look for we can potentially protect our children which are 2 and 8 Thanks to this site for saving my ass…literally lol and for helping me to catch this sooner rather then later if not for my sake then for my childrens as we would have probably assumed the boil scenario for them as well and can be more on guard now and take precautions. Great site!
I WAS TRIMMING TREE BRANCH’S I FELT SOMETHING CRAWLING ON MY LEG THREE WEEK’S AGO I GOT A SPIDER BITE BUT NOT LIKE THIS ONE. I AM A DIABETIC ON 4 DIFFERENT KIND’S OF MEDICINE FOR THAT LAST FRIDAY THE 12TH OF JUNE 2010 IT’S WEDNESDAY THE 16TH JUNE 2010 I AM GOING TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM TOMORROW TO HAVE IT CHECKED OUT IT IS VERY PAINFUL I TRIED LANCING IT MYSELF WITH A NEEDLE NOTHING CAME OUT WHERE IT IS BLACK IS NOT HALF AS SORE AS TO WHERE IT IS RED AND A LITTLE PURPLE AROUND THE EDGES FEEL’S KIND OF LIKE A GUN SHOT.
Small black with yellow dot on bottom. I have a lot of bites on me from this spider. Is it dangerous?
Our son was clearing a fence line of brush and trees when sometime in the clean up of the mess he got bit on his right lower leg, it was only 1 hole the size of a common pin that got red around it. He was showing his boss’s wife the leg when she said it was a brown recluse spider that bit him. He went to the emergency room with no insurance, they lost his paperwork so he was there for at least 1 1/2 hours before they even got to him when he asked why he was still waiting to be seen.
His boss came by to see how he was doing and we did not know he was at the emergency room till then. The hospital had told him it was a spider bite, put him on a steriod antibotic and motrin for medicine. By the second day Well it got to the point he could not walk on that leg at all. His leg swelled up twice its size, by the second day from that hospital visit he went back again. They had to cut it open, drain it and pack it with gauze as well as giving him 2 shots of antibotic, and a pain killer shot that did nothing for the pain. He was drainin his wound the next day when the packing came right out, it was loaded with greenish to yellowish white pus and solid white pus. The surrounding area around the wound was warm to hot to touch, very tender all around the leg as well so to drain the would it was no picnic when it was sore.
The hospital had sent home cleaning instructions and cleaning solution for the wound in which is being used. He was not able to walk on that leg for at least a couple days and when he was able to walk he was very careful as the wound drained while he was standing or walking. He is on the road to recovery finally doing what should be done, When they send the care instructions from the hospital for wound care you need to follow up on it and not ignore it.
He is keeping up on being checked at the emergency room even thou he has no insurance, the hospital has a waiver to consider the care for free considering he has no insurance, remember keep all paperwork that is needed (if necessary make copies for your records) and follow all instructions on the discharge sheet they give.
I haven’t heard anyone on here mention redmond clay but it is by far the best thing for recluse bites, also something called “black save” would also work.
I had a bite behind my knee. I also had a rash on my hands and one foot. I went to the clinic and the diagnoses was a bite and contact dermatitis. He put me on tetracycline. I went home and taped a piece of potato on the bite. It drew the poison out. It’s only been 2 weeks I finished my antibiotics, the bite is now about the size of a dime. It is hard with a scab on it. There is no pain. No discharge at all. A potato will draw the venom out of any kind of bite.
I was bitten by a brown recluse spider thirteen days ago. I was on a riding lawn mower when I felt the sting, like a needle injection. I kept on mowing as the pain was only a few seconds. The next day the area was red, swollen, and painful. I just lived with it thinking it would clear up by itself. After five days I went to my doctor. They inserted needles with deading medicine right into the sore. I can’t tell you how bad that hurt. I was heard screeming out in the waiting room. Then they made an incision to let the infection drain. I was offered a antibiotic shot but refused since I had my fill with those needles. I did get a prescription for Bactrim. I have been on that twice a day since then. Today is my last pill. The sore is better but still not healed. There is a scab that is too painful to remove. I am also putting peroxide on it to try to clear the puss. I DO NOT THINK MY HUSBAND WILL EVER GET ME ON A LAWN MOVER AGAIN.
My son (8) was bitten by a brown recluse yesterday morning at 8:30am, we actually found the spider in the chair he was sitting in. We are familiar with brown recluses since we live in Arkansas and have seen them many times. I took him along with the spider to his doctor, the was not having pain or any real reaction, just looked like a mosquito bite. The doctor did not give him anything, as he said the bite looks good & he may not have a bad reaction, just to watch him closely.
Today his bite is a little bigger & had a pimple like bump in the center, it now has opened and has a small ball point pin size whole, (which the doc seen again today, still no meds, he assures he is reacting good). He does have a rash that has spread across his body, especially close to the bite area, just little goose bump looking things & redness. He has no pain & says his skin just itches. he says the bite feels like a bruise…. I am so worried after reading these post that he was not put on antibiotics….??? but i do trust my kids doctor… don’t know what to do, hopefully it does not get worse….?? any advice??? like is said it is almost 48 hours now since the bite. THANKS!
Two nights ago I noticed what looked like a mosquito bite or horsefly bite on my leg. It was about the size of a nickle. The next morning it was swollen the size of about 8 inches long and 6 inches wide….big! It was red and itched with some pain also. It continued to get redder and a little more swollen yesterday, with more pain, then started to feel a little better last night. Today, the swelling has been reduced even more, and there is no pain. I don’t see any major discoloration or an obvious bite mark. As long as it seems to be getting better, is there any reason for me to go see the doctor?
Please read this was an amazing cure of a really bad bite. WOW I was just bitten by a brown recluse~ I thought it was a hobo till I did some pretty extensive research. The bite was extremely painful and intensely itched. I really didn’t want to talk about the spiders so much as I did AN AMAZING NATURAL REMEDIES YOU CAN MAKE AT HOME FOR SPIDER BITES! I was bitten Sunday night, I went to put on a robe and OUCH, (RIP Spider)
Seriously hurt instant large red swollen mark that started getting larger and on the top of the wound it was flaky the skin was coming off looked a little in one area like bad exema???
I don’t know looked like the skin was dying. I did a lot of research and I’ve worked with herbs for 20 some years and this is what I did for my bite. I used vinegar~baking soda paste to draw venom out plus neutralize the acid and then I went out to my yard and picked some wild plantain and made a paste of it and put it directly on the wound, now you can create a balm or oil and keep it on hand, also basil is documented to have amazing results and charcoal. If you interested check out much more information on natural things you create out of your own home at (karonv) google search. So I used the above mentioned recipe and in less then 8 hours it was a 180. I am shocked it’s simply amazing I was sure I was going to have to make a trip to the doctors not only did I save money it’s healing incredibly well
If I may interject, I am a Healthcare worker, so I thought I should mention something called Hyperbaric Oxygen, which has been shown effective in arresting the necrotic process in Brown Recluse bites particularly. Most people are not aware of this (even many Doctors). If you ever have a bite like this which starts necrotizing, INSIST you be taken to the nearest Hyperbaric unit ASAP! Hope that helps someone.