Did you know most bites are actually from non venomous bugs but because the area becomes infected, people point the finger at the brown recluse, black widow and other spiders.
A Staph Infection can result from any bug bite. One of our visitors was bitten by an unknown bug and was kind enough to document the entire process, from start to finish! Here is Dede’s well documented story and I am sure it will help those looking for answers:
3/9/08: Got a bite on the top of my foot last Saturday. Never felt a thing. Noticed though what looked like a pimple. Knowing one doesn’t get pimples on ones foot I knew it was a spider bite. Sunday my foot was throbbing with pain. The bump area developed redness around it. Monday it was still throbbing and now the topside of my whole foot was pink. Tuesday I went to the Doctor. The symptoms or redness and pain were indicative of an infection and I wanted to treat that should it become systemic or staph. See the images below.
WHICH BY THE WAY…… insurance or not everyone that is concerned enough about the symptoms or progression, enough so to look it up online, should seek medical attention and at least get antibiotics and a tetanus shot if you hadn’t had one in the last 10 years. Have you not seen the pictures of what can ultimately develop? My flesh, my life - all worth the costs associated of seeing a Doctor over something that could go very bad. I’m not that much of a gambler and I do value my flesh and life.
Back to the Doctor visit…. Wasn’t much he could or should do at that point. I was prescribed a mild antibiotic, told to elevate my foot, cold compress (ice pack), ibuprofen. I had been using an ice-pack, which did help a bit. I even did an Epsom Salt compress (dissolve Epsom salts in hot water until the crystals stop dissolving - use about 1 cup of hot water and lots of Epsom salt - take paper towels immerse in the liquid then hold to the affected area. Keep repeating until the water cools - about 5-10 minutes). NOTE: This only helped the first night of throbbing pain. Wednesday and Thursday there wasn’t any improvement. Ah yes, I even tried a drawing salve but that only enhanced the bump forming under the bite and didn’t do much else. I do on occasion experience some stinging in the area but it only lasts for a few seconds.
Friday I went back to the Doctor because there hadn’t been any improvement and it was continuing to ache. The bump under the skin had grown a little as well. The Doctor did a little nick on the bump but hardly anything came out. He concurred that the drawing salve was of no benefit (I asked). He advised that he didn’t feel that it was a brown recluse bite but here in GA there are plenty of nasty cousins that could have been the culprit. (I never saw any spider and never knew it happened. Clearly from the location it happened as I was slipping my foot into a shoe and as I was probably about to squish the spider it elected to zap me a good one on it’s way out of this life, at least that’s how I envision it.) So the Doctor told me, same as the first, to keep my foot elevated, try to stay off of it, keep it covered, apply topical antiseptic cream (neosporin or bacitracin), use an ice-pack, take ibuprofen to help with the pain and swelling, and he prescribed another, second, antibiotic to help cover all the bases since the bite wasn’t improving at all.
Yesterday I awoke and noticed that the bite area/bump developed to white dots - looked like pimple heads next to each other, perhaps where a spider would have bitten me? Doubt that, it would have been one big spider with a very wide fang spread. I figure it was just two points in which whatever was brewing under my skin wanted to peak out. Later the same day there were two more white dots, a little closer together just below the others. I did sanitize a needle, poked each and gently (because any pressure is very painful at this point) apply pressure from the outside of the reddened raised area. I did not squeeze nor should anyone from what I’ve been reading. What came out started as pus (very loose) followed by some blood and plasma (clear). And yes, the act of doing that created a lot of pain under the skin. The actual top skin of the raised bump is rather numb. The pain I have is the pressure under the skin. Anyway, I did this a grand total of 4 times, twice before bed, once in the wee hours of the AM (could not sleep due to throbbing foot) and once this morning. The first two times much yuck gooped out from the 5 little holes I poked into each little head. I’m done with poking and any extra pressure.
Last night my foot from where my toes meet my foot up to just below my ankle was showing signs of Edema (water retention) and “dimples” when I poke it (finger indent stays for a few seconds after taking finger away). This morning my foot was exactly the same, even though I slept with it elevated all night. It’s not super puffy but when looking at it compared to my other foot I can easily see the difference.
Today is Sunday, one week and a day after the initial bite. Today I have been elevating it more than any day prior and have been applying an ice-pack. I take ibuprofen (2-3 capsules) every 4 hours. I applied some baking soda paste (w/water) to it and have it covered. Why? Because someone wrote here about that and I’ll attempt things that seem logical to me and this did.
To be honest, I am a little freaked out at the thought of the top of my foot looking anything like some of these pictures with gaping wounds. I think it’s natural to assume the worst. The 2nd Doctor I saw predicted the evolution of this……. he said he expected it would turn darker in the raised area, even almost black, the skin would to slough off a bit and ultimately I would have a little crater once it was all healed - and this could take a few weeks. He said that with spider bites there isn’t a whole lot one can do beyond what I noted above herein. (disclaimer: I’m sure he was referring to what I had versus a black widow or other ultra venomous spiders). I just have to allow it to run its course, which it is. In the meantime I’m dealing with the pain and aggravation of not being very mobile. Not sure what else can be done by a Doctor at this point - I have antibiotics and am now current on my tetanus shot so I’m glad I at least did that. I just need to be closely watching my foot, continue to keep a record of progression by taking pictures and should I grow concerned about any dramatic changes seek medical attention again. Better safe than sorry, regardless of the cost.
3/11/08 - Dede from GA again. Back for an update. I elected to go to the ER today to get the area cultured. It simply was not improving. The foot was still swollen, the redness around the sore was growing larger, and the sore itself was not improving. I was having a real problem walking on that foot at all last night. I also needed the peace of mind that I was doing everything possible to take care of this. Peace of mind is priceless. Worry costs a lot.
They did take a culture. It will take a few days to get the results. They did not cut or lance it at all. I applied very gentle pressure at the base of the raised area and they took the culture from that. As a precaution they also gave me a heavy duty antibiotic through an IV. That’s in addition to the 2 oral antibiotics I’m already taking, which they said to continue taking. With a medical marker they drew a circle around the outer perimeter of the reddened area to gauge it when I return in a few days.
Tonight the sore is oozing and morphing into expected ugliness. I can see that it’s opening up now in the middle. My foot is still puffy from the retention of fluids, which is a normal bodily function when fighting such a thing. The puffiness/swelling isn’t from the spider bite; it’s from your body fighting against it.
TIPS: If you are elevating a limb ease it down slowly, like very slow over the span of minutes. The faster you bring it down the faster blood rushes back in and there is pain associated with that. Be patient or prepare for the pain of the rushing blood flow.
I’m not poking any more holes in the sore now, there’s no need. The original pokes I made stayed and “stuff” has oozed from them since. I’m not apply pressure to milk out anything either. It didn’t help. Initially I thought it might ease the pressure and tightness but what happened was soreness where I applied pressure and whatever oozed out was replenished soon after. At the ER they did not open or drain anything.
I am taking 800mg Ibuprofen every 6 hours (that’s 4 tablets at 200mg each). They offered morphine at the hospital but the reality is that on a scale of 1-10 I was only at a 3 at the time. The real pain comes when I bring my foot down from elevating it or there is pressure on the topside. When that happens the pain goes to about a 6 or 7 but doesn’t last beyond a few minutes. No need for morphine. I still have some throbbing and occasional stinging but both are subsiding, slowly.
I’m using Polysporin ointment with a gauze pad and 1 strip of tape. I was keeping a large foam adhesive bandage on it but I can’t quite take that much adhesive at this point (hurts when it comes off) and the gauze pad is better for leeching up the ooze, because it’s now doing a lot of that.
Upon my return from the ER I’ve noticed that the reddened area around the sore is looking better, as you will see from the picture. The sore itself is looking nastier though. That’s because it’s now starting to open in the middle, which I expected and is a natural course of action with such a thing.
NOTE OF CONCERN: They did advise at the ER to be very concerned and rush back should I notice any dark lines (veins) leading up my leg from the area - towards my heart. That’s bad stuff and is deemed an emergency. In my case I have no such problem, thankfully.
After my follow-up visit with the Doctors in a few days I’ll post an update with current pictures.
As a strong reminder, if you are reading this because you are concerned about a spider bite and not sure if you should go to a Doctor or not, regardless of your reasons, DO IT. If it doesn’t get better by the following day then GO. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Take pictures also as a form of documenting the progression. If you don’t have a digital camera then use your cell phone; most all cell phones have the ability to take pictures these days. Make sure to note somehow the date and time of each picture for proper reference.
3/17/08 - DEDE FROM GA UPDATE: Picking up from where I had left off, I returned to the ER on 03/12 for a wound check and the culture results. The results of the culture only showed that I had a mild staph infection. The doctor I saw told me that wound could have been an insect bite (including but not limited to a spider) or anything for that matter and an infection soon followed. He stated that what most people think are horrible sores/wounds from an insect bite is really a staph infection that probably started as a bite but evolved into a nasty sore due to the introduction of staph. It can happen to anyone regardless of circumstances, immune system health and/or personal hygiene. He proceeded to open and drain? the wound, which was very necessary at that point. I was given multiple shots of Lidocaine in the affected area to numb it. Lidocaine shots initially feel much like yellow jacket stings, but the pain is brief. Then he cut open the wound and cleaned it out and cut off the dead tissue. Yes, it hurt. After he cleaned it up I was told the following:
Keep it elevated as much as possible for the rest of that day.
I could resume normal daily functions.
When sitting try to elevate the foot, if possible.
Clean the wound site 2-3 times per day.
Keep the wound site dry and covered at all times.
Use Bactroban (for the nose) in each nostril in the AM and PM (prescription).
Back onto the initial antibiotic I was given for 7 days, instead this time I get 10 days worth (Bactrim aka Sulfamethoxazole). Stop taking the 2nd oral antibiotic (Keflax aka Cephalexin), which was of no aid for what I had.
Because 4 Ibuprofen wasn’t doing much for me I got a prescription for pain meds (mild).
No need to put anything on it, like Polysporin, Neosporin, etc. Nothing more but washing it, per the Doc.
Expect it to take a few weeks to fully heal.
The wound is indeed healing. The swelling on my foot is completely gone. That started to go down that day. I don’t need any pain meds or Ibuprofen at all, no pain anymore. I am keeping it clean by washing it with Hibiclens (in a light blue and white bottle, in most drugs stores by the iodine). I use a gauze pad to smack the Hibiclens into the wound (rubbing isn’t a great feeling there yet). I rinse with water then rinse with Saline solution last (get the cheap store brand for contacts, works the same as the expensive stuff you find in the wound care section). After I shower I rinse it with Saline also. Found a new ointment specifically for Staph and started applying a little of that today. I will do that once a day only. When I go out I have an extra roomy sock I put on over the dressing and I have a slipper that has Velcro straps so I can control the pressure over the wound site. It’s no fashion statement but it works. At home I walk around with only the dressing over the wound. I use a non-stick gauze pad and another larger standard gauze pad over that, tapped down. Keeping it covered and clean is very important for the healing. Although the wound is getting better slowly it still has some discharge visible on the gauze when I change the dressing. I was told I’ll need to see an Infectious Disease doctor if this doesn’t get better OR comes back. Staph can come back. Here are recent pictures:
I did everything right and thankfully caught it before it got out of hand or became anything like some of those ultra horrifying pictures you see online. Yeah, it got gross and it hurt a lot but it could have been way worse. If you have anything like what I’ve described or seen in the posted pictures you NEED to see a DOCTOR ASAP and for your own sake don’t procrastinate or make excuses, like no insurance. It is probable that whatever began as a bite became a staph infection and is quite serious. The doctor said that the pictures one sees online of nasty spider bites are usually always pictures of staph infections that very well could have started as a spider bite. Know this, I am a very healthy person, no medical issues, rarely get sick and if I do it’s over quick, I don’t need or take prescription meds of any kind (exception being the antibiotics now) and with all that I still got a staph infection.
To those here wondering what bit me (meaning you), from what I’ve seen online there isn’t any way to know for sure what bit you unless you have the insect/spider that did it. Describing it isn’t going to help, how your body reacts to a bite differs from person to person. If your bite is getting worse (painful, red area getting larger, swelling, red lines going in any direction but major red flag if the lines are leading towards your heart, etc.) seek medical attention right away. If you elect not to then you are a fool asking for trouble and the cost of what can happen will greatly out weigh the out of pocket cost for seeking medical attention. Better safe than sorry. It may even require a few trips to the doctor. My bite changed daily but I stayed on top of it, took pics to show the docs the progress, and after 4 trips in 1.5 weeks to the docs it’s getting better.
Thank You Dede!
It is people like Dede who make the world a better place! Thank you for taking the time to document your experience and sharing it with the rest of the world!
Bed Bugs are real and have made resurgence in the U.S. and infect hotels, apartment complexes and homes. We are going to provide you with information to help you determine if you have bed bugs and how to deal with infestations and protect yourself during travel. There are some easy ways to check for these bugs in hotels, before you sleep in the bed!
What are bed bugs?
Before I explain more, take a look at this video - warning: you won’t be able to sleep after this!
Bed Bugs are insects, more specifically, ‘True Bugs’, which have piercing mouthparts that in most species are used for feeding on plants. Unfortunately, there are some species of bugs with mouthparts that have been adapted to feed on human blood while inflicting very little pain (most never feel the blood feeding).
Human bed bugs found in the U.S., Cimex Lectularius, have a flat oval shaped body without wings and range in length from 4 to 7mm long. Their color is shiny reddish-brown but after a good serving of your blood, they appear dark brown and swollen as in the picture below.
There are three stages in the bed bug’s life cycle: egg, nymph and adult as indicated in the picture below:
The eggs are white and about 1mm long. The nymphs look like adults but are smaller. Complete development from egg to adult takes from four weeks to several months depending on the temperature and amount of feed available.
Both make and female bed bugs feed on the blood of sleeping humans during night. In the absence of humans, they will feed on mice, rats, chickens and other animals. Feeding takes about 10 to 15 minutes for adults and less for the nymphs; they feed about every three days. Depending on the conditions, bed bug nymphs can survive for months without feeding.
A good way to tell if you have bed bugs is by looking for blood spots on the mattress seam as in the image below. The spots are dark colored and in groups which indicate current or past infestation.
Can I get a disease from Bed Bugs?
To date, there is not a know case of disease associated with bed bugs and most people are never aware they have been bitten. Bed bug bites usually look like little red bumps which can look a lot like mosquito bites and for those that have sensitive skin, a allergic reaction can occur as in the picture below
If you have such a reaction, check with your doctor who may recommend an antihistamine or topical cream to relieve any itching and or burning. Do not scratch the bites as this may lead to infection.
How do bed bugs get into a home? Usually from hitching a ride on clothing or furniture. Once the bed bugs are in your home, they will gravitate to the sleeping area and will hide out in the following areas:
Seams, creases, tufts, and folds of the mattress and box springs.
Cracks in the bad frame and or head board
Under chairs, couched, beds and dust covers
Between the cushions of couches and chairs
Under rugs and the edges of carpets
In drawers, baseboards and window casings
Behinds electrical plates, cracks in plaster
Televisions, radio clocks and phones (scary!)
Bed bugs can also travel to adjacent rooms or apartments by making their way over plumbing and electrical wiring.
What to do when you find Bed Bugs!
The best way to deal with bed bugs to seal your mattress and pillows with a plastic or hypoallergenic zipped cover. This traps the bugs that are inside your pillow and prevents them from feeding and kills them over time - remember, a nymph can live for two months without feeding.
Do not apply any pesticide to mattresses or surfaces that would come in contact with the skin unless the pesticide specifically states that the product can be used in this manner.
Wash all your linens and place them in a hot dryer for 20 minutes (or you can freeze them at -5 C or below for five days).
You can vacuum to capture bed bugs and their eggs, but because the eggs are embedded to the fabric, you may have to scrape the surface. Once you have vacuumed everything, immediately place the vacuum bag into a plastic bad, seal it tight and dispose.
Seal items mentioned above to prevent the bugs from hiding. You can place glue boards or sticky tape around your bed and in the room to catch the bed bugs as the move around; this gives you a way to monitor the effectiveness of your efforts.
A few ways to prevent bed bugs from getting into your home include:
Hang clothing in the closet farthest from the bed
Place luggage on the folding rack found in most hotels
Place luggage in the dry cleaning bad found in the hotel.
Most important, don’t bring home a mattress that has been used by unknown sources.
If you have been bitten by a bed bug, please take pictures and the bite or even the area with blood stains and drop me an email (see bottom of page for address). I would be happy to post it for everyone to see and will make sure your information stays private. These pictures and / or your story will help others around the world deal with this common problem!
If you have a bulls-eye rash and possibly a fever, headache or muscle pain, then you may have Lyme Disease. Believe it or not, it’s caused by a mouse, but not like you would think. The mouse has Borrelia burgdorferi (boar-ELL-ee-uh burg-dorf-ERR-eye) and is bitten by a tick that then bites you. These ticks are very small and very hard to see.
The Bulls eye rash that appears around 7 to 14 days doesn’t always happen and some people can still have the flu like symptoms that can come with Lyme disease.
It is important to get medical attention and without it, the bacteria can makes its way into the entire body that could cause rashes that appear in areas never bitten by the tic. If not treated, pain, swelling and mood changes can occur months after being bitten!
Preventing Lyme Disease
Avoid entering areas that are home to ticks in the spring and summer months.
If you are in a tick infested area, wear clothing that is lightly colored which will help you spot ticks. Also, make sure your entire body is clothed and that skin is not exposed.
Bug spray that contains DEET (n,n-diethyl-m-toluamide) can be applied to clothes and exposed skin.
You can use Permethrin on cloths which kills tics dead (and fast) but make sure not to come in contact with skin.
The photo to the left is of the Ixodes Tick which is classified as a hard tick, due to the presence of a dorsal plate.
If you find a tick embedded into your skin, use teasers and pull straight out. Be sure not to twist as you pull or part of the tick’s body could end up inside your skin and cause an infection. After you have removed the tick, clean the area with antiseptic.
Ticks love foliage such as leaf piles (I know, children love to play in them, but so do ticks!). They can also be found in piles of wood, such as those we use for fire, etc.
If you discover a tic embedded in your skin, make sure to watch that area and be area of flu-like symptoms. If you think you may have Lyme disease, let your doctor know and they’ll be able to tell you for sure.
Sometimes things are not what they seem. A visitor posted that a comment that he thought his wife was bitten by brown recluse which looked just like a bite, but instead it turned out to be a MRSA Staph Infection. Here is information on this infection that can mimic a spider bite. Want to see what can happen when a bite gets infected? Then check out our section on Staph Infection.
Here are the most common symptoms of a staph infection, courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine:
* A swollen, red, and sore area on the skin that may drain pus or other fluid.
* A warm feeling around the infected area.
* Fever, chills, headache, and muscle aches.
* Pain in the chest.
* Fatigue.
* General feeling of sickness.
If you have these symptoms, see your doctor immediately.
So, what is Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)?
Staphylococcus aureus (staph) is a common type of bacteria (germ) that is often found on the skin and in the nose of healthy people. It can also grow in wounds or other sites in the body, sometimes causing an infection. For example, staph is one of the most common causes of skin infections.
Penicillin is a drug that was once commonly used to treat staph infections. However, over time many staph bacteria have become difficult to treat with penicillin and antibiotics related to penicillin. These new or resistant forms of Staphylococcus aureus are called methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. The illnesses they cause are the same as those caused by other staph the difference is in how they are treated.
Just like normal staph bacteria, MRSA normally does not cause disease unless it enters an opening in the skin. However, some people are at higher risk for carrying MRSA or becoming infected with this type of staph.
MRSA more often occurs in people in hospitals and healthcare facilities. It can also occur outside the hospital in people who receive multiple antibiotics, as well as in people who have close contact with a person carrying the germ or by touching objects contaminated with MRSA (e.g., clothes, towels, bedding, athletic equipment, benches in saunas or hot tubs, bandages).
Staph bacteria (including MRSA) are most often spread by close contact with infected people or the things they touch. It is not spread through the air.
Many people carry staph bacteria on their skin without any symptoms. Symptoms of a MRSA or other staph infection depends upon where the infection is located. Infections of the skin are the most common, and cause symptoms such as redness, warmth, pus and a wound that does not heal.
Your doctor may refer to these infections as boils, furuncles, impetigo, or abscesses. Infections can also develop in the blood, bone, bladder, lungs, and other sites. Symptoms there will depend on the site of infection, but include fever and pain at the site.
See your healthcare provider what should I do if I think I have a MRSA or other staph infection?
MRSA and other staph infections are treatable. Some staph skin infections can be treated simply by draining the sore and keeping the wound clean. For more serious infections, antibiotics can be used to treat these infections. If antibiotics are prescribed by your healthcare provider, it is very important to finish taking all the pills and to call your doctor if the infection does not get better.
What can you do to prevent MRSA and other staph infections?
- Wash your hands often, especially when you’re exposed to someone with an infection or when you touch objects that may be contaminated.
- Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered.
- Avoid sharing personal items such as towels, sports equipment, razors, etc.
- If a sore or cut becomes red, oozes, causes pain or isn’t healing, see a doctor.
- Don’t insist on antibiotics for colds or other viruses.
- If prescribed antibiotics, take all the pills, even if you feel better before they are all gone.
Tularemia, or rabbit fever, is a bacterial disease that can infect humans and animals. Although the disease can be found throughout the US, children seem to get hit the hardest in summer when ticks and deer files are at their peek.
Tularemia is commonly spread from blood or tissue while handling infected animals, the bite of an infected tick, contact with fluids from infected deer flies or ticks, or handling or eating insufficiently cooked rabbit meat. Tularemia is not spread from person to person.
Symptoms of Tularemia may vary depending on how it was introduced to the body. In situations where people are infected due to handling an animal carcass, symptoms can include an ulcer at the site where the bacteria entered the skin (usually on the hand and with slow growth).
The ulcerated bite can look much like that of a spider but the swollen lymph nodes can be help in identifying Tularemia. If this bacteria is inhaled, an illness much like pneumonia can follow. If you are unfortunate enough to ingest this bacteria, you may end up with abdominal pain, sore throat, abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting.
Symptoms usually show within the first two weeks (typically within a week) after exposure and can be treated with streptomycin or gentamicin. Other types of antibiotics may also are effective.
Once you are infected with Tularemia and have recovered, it is not likely that you’ll become infected again.
Measures that can be taken to prevent tularemia include (especially those hunting):
Do not come into contact with untreated water.
Use thick gloves when handling animal (such as skinning a deer).
Try not to be bitten by deer flies and or ticks. This is hard to do, but there are a few steps you can take that may help. They include monitoring clothing for ticks that may be climbing; wearing clothing that will make the tick stand out, such as light colored cloths. Tuck in cloths and wear head protection (net).
You can also use insect repellent that contains a DEET mixture of up the 30 making sure to stay away from the face. Repellent that contains permethrin can be used to treat clothes.
Most important, monitoring yourself for ticks or checking every few hours will help; the reason being is that the tick usually does not transmit disease until they have been attached to your skin for four or more hours!
If you find a tick, make sure you remove it ASAP. The best way to do this is by using tweezers (or whatever is close to tweezers) and grab the tick as close to the skin as possible then pulling straight up (out) without turning. The goal is to get the entire tick and not leave part of the body in the skin. Make sure to wash and clean the area.
Here are some pictures from one of our visitors, Melanie.
A shingles rash can mimic spider bites including bed bugs. This rash usually appears on one side of the face or body and lasts from 2 to 4 weeks. Its main symptom is pain, which can be quite severe. Other symptoms of shingles can include fever, headache, chills and upset stomach. Very rarely, a shingles infection can lead to pneumonia, hearing problems, blindness, brain inflammation (encephalitis) or death.
About 2 out of every 10 people experience severe pain that may last even after the rash clears up and is referred to as post-herpetic neuralgia.
Shingles is caused by the Varicella Zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. Only someone who has had a case of chickenpox or gotten chickenpox vaccine, can get shingles. The virus stays in your body. It can reappear many years later to cause a case of shingles.
You can’t catch shingles from other people that have shingles. However, in rare cases, an individual who has never had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine, may contract it from someone who has shingles.
Shingles is far more common in people 50 and older than in younger people. It is also more common in people whose immune systems are weakened because of a disease such as cancer, or drugs such as steroids or chemotherapy. At least 1 million people a year in the United States get shingles.
Causes or Shingles
No one is sure exactly what makes the sleeping zoster virus become active and multiply, but illness, trauma and stress are known to trigger shingles. People that have conditions such as AIDS, HIV, Radiation Therapy, Surgery and Chemotherapy are known to have week immune systems, something that this virus likes.
There is a vaccine for shingles which in the lab, stopped shingles in about half of people older than 60 years of age; this shingles vaccine may also reduce the pain associated that comes with this virus.
The vaccine may not be for everyone such as those that have had a life-threatening allergic reaction to gelatin or the antibiotic neomycin. Your doctor will explain more about this and ask all the necessary questions before giving you such a cure.
Identify Shingles
If you have, or think you have, shingles, please try to take a picture and post a comment so that others may see. Thousands of visitors view this site daily and many are more than happy to review your information and help you determine if it is Shingles, spider bites or bed bugs.
It may be possible to confuse Actinic keratosis with a spider bite. Actinic keratosis refered to as AK or solar keratosis is a premalignant condition of thick, scaly, or crusty patches of skin. People who have fair skin are more likely to have this condition than others and it happens when fair skinned people are exposed to the sun. Some of these area can lead to to squamous cell carcinoma and should be treated.
As skin is exposed to the sun for long periods of time, crusty, thick or scaly bumps may appear. The dry rough scaly (crusty) part of the bump starts out as flat scaly areas, and later grow into a tough, wart like area.
Actinic keratosis areas are usually between 2 to 6 millimeters, can be dark or light, tan, pink, red, a combination of all these, or the same pigment of one’s skin. It may appear on any sun-exposed area, such as the face, ears, neck, scalp, chest, back of hands, forearms, lips etc.
Actinic keratosis areas are classified as precancerous growths. If left untreated, approximately 1% of actinic keratoses develop into squamous cell carcinoma. Here are some examples of changes that could be cancer:
Small, smooth, shiny, pale, or waxy lump (top left image)
Firm, red lump (top right image)
Sore or lump that bleeds or develops a crust or a scab (middle left image)
Flat red spot that is rough, dry, or scaly and may become itchy or tender (middle right image)
Red or brown patch that is rough and scaly (bottom image)
The Bulls eye rash that appears around 7 to 14 days doesn’t always happen and some people can still have the flu like symptoms that can come with Lyme disease. 
The photo to the left is of the Ixodes Tick which is classified as a hard tick, due to the presence of a dorsal plate.
