Brown Recluse Spider Bite
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Written by Jim on August 5th, 2007 with
333 comments.
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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.