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 – 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 – 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 – 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!
My experience was much like DEDE above. I live in Southern New Hampshire and was bit in front of my garage on lower back above waistline. A small welt-to ugly and black 3-4 inches long within 48 hours. I am so glad I went to doctor, next day to urgent care, and 3rd day to surgeon; who excised the wound and removed the black necrotic skin. Flu symptoms stopped on day 5, I am on 2 antibiotics, and still a little sore. It will take weeks to heal, but I am glad I sought immediate care!
wow those pic look like the one that located on my chest i used duck tape with in 20 mint it was draining pus and blood and has not stoped at all it still draining i gave penicilen injections but it still look bad in that spot
My 4 yr old was covered head to toe in mosiqto bites, we live in southern ok and weather has been crazy. All but 3 of the bites went away but 3 started to look like big pimple like bumps, red, swollen, I asked a EMT friend and he gave us something called Mupirocin ointment usp 2% and that cleared up the bites, just to be safe I took him to the dr and they gave him a strong antibiotic. One week later his bites have almost disappeared. Just my luck that my teenager got a mosiqto and it is getting bigger, swollen and red. On the way back to the dr to get some of that ointment and antibiotics for her.
Has anyone ever heard of staph from or developing where a mosiqto bite was?
I will keep that ointment on hand because that started to clear up the bites before we had antibiotics.
I’m wondering why the infection specialists are not recommending gloves, antibacterial soap for bathing, lysol or similar for washing clothing, and disposing of anything used to touch or clean the area. My daughter was 6 and almost died from this after a spider bite. There were only 2 antibiotics they had left which would treat this staff being that they are so drug resistant now and often MRSA develops. Please see a doctor as soon as possible and find out how to protect yourself or family members during an infection in the home. She was bitten again when she was 10 and after a second VERY long treatment to her foot, she was forbidden out of doors at times of the year and no Girl Scout camp trips, many things. I was the enemy of course . She and our son have had resistant staph infections several times, our son due to bites twice. I have to tell any doctor that they are susceptible to staph infections now, no explanation given to me why, but any doctor or hospital treating them eyes open say Ohhhhh and change meds, put on gloves, robes, and make you feel like you are in quarantine.
I woke up the other morning and my boyfriend ask me what was on my hip, I said don’t bother playing but he told me he was for real so we went to the doctor and they had told me a spider had bit me! I was freaking out because I don’t like spider bites and my boyfriend linden was like calm down because I don’t like spiders and to find out they was in my house I liked to had a stroke I was so mad but it had me Nashua and dizzy and it was reddish and swelled and ugly looking.
I had a boil that came up on my bottom on the left side it was so sore that I couldn’t hardly sit on it. this past Monday I went to a nurse practitioner we have here and had the place drained. She called me today to see how I was doing and I said I am a lot better than I was
she also prescribed an antibiotic I am to take for 10 days.
I had this same thing 7 months ago I went to see the doctor whom was here at that time and he gave me a tetanus shot and I took 10 days worth of antibiotics. then it happened 2 weeks before I was to go on a trip to Tennessee with a friend of mine.
this time when I went to the nurse practitioner here she told me when she called to see how I was doing that I had a mild case of staph. I was glad I went to her when I did I will do what ever it takes to keep this from coming back.
I was bitten by a spider some years back while on vacation in Jamaica. I don’t remember being bitten just a lot of redness, pain and swelling. When I got back to Canada I remember people stopping me in the airport and asking me where I was and why was my arm was so red and swollen. It wasn’t until I arrived home and went directly to the hospital, where I saw a Specialist, when I found out that a spider had bitten me (and I am extremely frightened and freaked out by spiders). Thank heavens it happened while I was sleeping or sunbathing! After getting a needle and some heavy duty antibiotics
( plus the Jamaican rum helped) I was better by 2 weeks!
i had a spot on my leg. i thought it was a spider bite. my friend told me to put a raw potato on it. that drew some of the puss out. but in 2 days the spot was swollen & a big red spot. went to the Dr. & he said if you didn’t see the bug it is a staph. he drained most of the puss out & gave me some antibiotics. it was still sore.
I got bit right under my butt and that had to be the nastiest looking thing by the time I went to the doctor. It was black and purple and gaping. If I wanted to, I’m sure my finger would have fit in it. I finally saw the doctor because the coloration was disturbing for one, and it hurt so bad I couldn’t sit down.
Now I have a huge brown scar from it. I recently got another bug bite, this time on the buttocks. The first morning it just looked like a bug bite. (There are a lot of spiders around my house, why they like to bite my butt, who knows) The second morning, it still looked like a normal bug bite. But the third morning it was like it had completely transformed. The whole are was about the size of a quarter. Five days later, the area is about the size of a softball.
While the skin has barely started breaking down, it’s looking nastier and nastier with every passing day. And of course I can not show you, because that would just be… no.
I got bite by a spider in a few places. My left fore arm and my right under arm near my arm pit. When I first spotted the red marks that looked like pimples (on my left arm) I popped them not thinking anything of it. It looked like it moved a little to a different spot on the same arm. While on my right arm, It hurt just to move it.
It was huge from being swollen and sore. On Thanksgiving (2011) my mom and I started squeezing the puss out of it. My brother said it would help it go away faster. At this point I still hadn’t seen a doctor. So as we were squeezing it hurt bad, but it was working. Over the next 3 days I kept squeezing and 3 cores came out of it. Then about a week later more unknown bumps showed up. I didn’t think anything of it until Dec. 2nd. When my aunt saw it. Earlier in the morning my mom and I circled all the bumps to see if they had gotten bigger. when we arrived at the hospital to see my new born cousin, my aunt asked about it.
Showed her and she was like you need to go down to the ER, it’s not getting any better. Boy am I ever glad I listened to her! After being seen the doctor they said I had 11 Abscesses on my arm pit. After that I was put on 2 antibodics, pain medicine, and was given ibprophen. I went to the ER twice, was taken out of work for 4 days, in those 4 days out of work I saw my doctor 2 times and a few times after. For the whole month of December I was on Antibodic’s.
Due to being on them for a whole month I got a pretty bad yeast infection. Now after the first of the year has everything pretty much cleared up. My lymph nodes aren’t as swollen. My left arm looks great, and the arm pit I can finally wear DO for my body odor. If it doesn’t look right go see the doctor regardless of what people say
I was just diagnosed with staph infection on the back of my leg. I thought it was an in grown hair but within 2 days my whole bottom of my leg swelled. That’s when I went to the dr. I am amazed how much better I felt after a few days on antibiotics. I have had nasty cyst in the past, but didn’t think much of them. Now I am wondering how long I have been carrying this disease around.
We have been dealing with this for about 3 years in my family. Three years ago my daughter, 6 at the time, was diagnosed with staph. She got it again in a few months. My mother was then diagnosed later, my brother had to be hospitalized and had surgery. My sister got it after that. My son got it over the summer. I have been so tired and dragged down for a while now.
I am feeling great now. I now wonder if I gave my own family this disease. GO TO THE DR. DON’T IGNORE IT . IF NOT FOR YOUR OWN HEALTH FOR THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE. Any rash or cyst, just have it checked. It really important to be safe rather than sorry.
One morning I woke up with two bites from some bug on my right arm. I could not see any bug near it and never did find one. It started to burn and turned red and started bubbling. It has left a nasty scar. The skin is all wrinkly and completely different texture than the surrounding skin. I actually sustained two bites about 1.5 cm apart and each scar is 2/3 cm in diameter. I am not even sure that it was a bite but I have no clue how that would have happened.
I am mentioning this because I am suffering from a ton of fatigue, depression, I’m doing terrible in school when right around the bug bite time I had a 4.0 in college. This was over a year ago but someone kept asking me about the scar and what happened and I just realized I should probably look into it. It has been progressive rather than all at once and after trying tons of different medicines to help fix the problems, nothing seems to be responsive. I was prescribed Adderall (after nuvigil which did absolutely nothing to combat the fatigue) and after starting at a daily dosage of 20mg I was recently at 80mg a day and barely awake and then there was a massive adderall and stimulant shortage a few months ago which came at the absolute worst time.
My question is whether there is anything that sounds similar to what I have in symptoms and description. I was trying to post photos but I am unsure how to do so.
SPIDER BITE 12/03/2011
My Story Starts 3 months ago. Small Red Dot on my left forefinger. Then my lymph nodes swelled up @ my elbow & under my armpit. Went to ER. DR said it was Cellulites. Got an antibiotic shot & Script for 2 Antibiotics. Did not help. The spot on my finger finally healed. Then the lymph nodes really swelled. Went to my Dr. Bactrim 800mg x2 Daily & Keflex 500mg x2 Daily. Did not help. Elbow Lymph Node swelled to the size of a grapefruit. This has gone on for 3 months. New Script for Bactrim 800mg x2 daily for weeks. Made another DR. appointment for this past Monday 12/01/2011. Early Monday morning it busted in my sleep, I thought I had wet the bed.
Had to hold my arm over the toilet & let the sore drain for an hour. No clear liquid thick puss. Put bandage on, went to DR, appt. She started pushing on it. The core will not come out. Some relief since it has busted. Today is 12/03/2011 I started Epson Salt Compress’s “OUCH” STILL NO CORE. I do not like pain pills, but I just took one for the pain. Have a hole in my arm that goes to the bone. It will be much larger when the core comes out. I pray I do not lose my arm. Have pictures of the progression of the staph from start until today. I need to figure out how to post them.
Brent C. H.
12/03/2011
I noticed a small circular red area (about size of dime) on my face several days ago. Thought maybe it was a spider bite. Went to the dermatologist yesterday because it was more swollen and bigger. There is not a sore or pimple at all. She told me it was either staph or mrsa. If not better in couple of days, after being put on antibiotics, then I would need to come back in and have it drained. I am very upset because this is on my face below my right eye.
Has anyone got any suggestions? It seems all the pictures I see of staph or mrsa are big red blotches with sores in the middle. But I do not have this……at least not yet. Any comments?
Wow. I’m glad I found this site, by accident, because I had MRSA 10 months ago and now have it again. I had just come back from a cruise and had several small boils develop on my hip, leg and right armpit. I started looking up boils online and right away found lots of info on boils & MRSA.
I immediately went to my Dr. the next day and thank god I did. Long story short, I don’t know where I picked it up or what happened but the two boils on my leg got HUGE and painful. It took weeks for them to heal and three different antibiotics before they started to heal. 10 months later I have black/blue/red nasty looking scars where the boils were. From what I have been told, I am a carrier for MRSA.
What finally healed me was an oral antibiotic and also a antibiotic gel that I swabbed in my nose. I was so thankful when the boils finally went away and thought I was cured for good. This week I had a small boil (looked like a little pimple) pop up on my finger. I thought, humm, did I get bit or burn myself or something? and then I said on no, MRSA?
I woke up the next day with my finger swollen and hand slightly swollen and red and red lines going up my arm. I immediately went to the Dr again. We assume it is MRSA again. Great. Anyway, I got a shot of antibiotics and am taking 4 pills a day for 10 days. Shortly after the shot, the red lines started to go away, thank god. I believe these little boils people are discussing on here are mostly probably not insect bites.
It’s MRSA. You carry it on your skin and then all you have to do is scratch and the skin opens and MRSA goes crazy. Advice for anyone/everyone on here – do not pop or pick anything open yourself. Take your butt to the Dr immediately if you have what looks like a little pimple and is sore and doesn’t go away quickly. MRSA can be deadly if left untreated and it can be hard to treat so GO TO THE DR ASAP. 🙂
Good luck everyone.
I woke up on Sunday with a red lump above my left eyebrow, about 3/4 the size of a dime, and there were about 10 very small lumps on top of it. My forehead hurt. Monday, the raised bump spread a bit, so I called a nurse, she said I should come in if I develop any more symptoms.
Tuesday, I noticed a lump in front of my ear, the left one, and late the night before, I’d had a slight fever, which dissipated soon after. I took myself to the ER, I have no health coverage. After waiting for 3 1/2 hrs, which is, really good here, I got in, the doc walked in, said his name, looked at my head, asked like 5 questions, rushing me through them, and then told me if it was a spider bite, my skin would be black, he gave my antibiotics and sent me home.
It got worse, the swelling was working down to cover my eye, I couldn’t see, so I went back to the ER, they admitted me, but said nothing. They “piggy-backed” antibiotics, but during this time in the hospital, I saw 5 different doctors, and not one of them spent more than 5 minutes with me. I was discharged with no diagnosis, but one doc they called in said it looks definitely like a spider bite.
I was released and then given a prescription for antibiotics,and the cost of my generic pills are $370!!!!
My swelling around my eye is very bad, and the area above my brow, is now turning black.
I just found this blog. I went to the Twilight marathon Thursday that started in a movie theater at 4:00 p.m. Around 9:00, I felt a pain in my leg. I examined my let and discovered a bite. I didn’t think much about it. For Twilight fans, you will know that Breaking Dawn started at Midnight.
When I woke up Friday morning, my leg was slightly swollen and sore. I put hot compresses on it, and the pain became worse. I went to a seminar Friday night and all day Saturday. By Saturday, the pain was excruciating, and I thought I would have to leave the seminar. When I got home around 9:00 p.m., I checked the bite, and the redness had spread to my ankle. I Googled spider bites and read some of the information about treatment and symptoms. I was concerned and called the Illinois Poison Control Center. The representative told me that some spider bites could be dangerous, especially if I had been bitten by a brown recluse spider. He told me to go to an urgent care facility immediately since I was in excruciating pain. I had to take 3 acetimetiphen (sp) gel caps just to take the edge off the pain to drive to the nearest urgent care facility. I am allergic to ibuprofen.
I saw a doctor who took a culture. They cleaned the site of the bite, put on a layer of Biactin, and covered it with gauze and silk tape. I am allergic to the adhesive on regular tape. They gave me a tetanus shot and a prescripton for antibiotics. I drove to the 24-hour Walgreen’s, and had the prescription filled.
I have been in bed ever since with my leg elevated. The pain is unbelievable! I can barely walk. My daughter had to come to my home to bring me dinner. I had to have my grandson walk my dog, as I am unable to do this right now.
When I take pain medication, it barely takes the edge off. I do not have Bible college classes this week, thank God, so I can stay off my leg. I may have to stay home on Thanksgiving. I was asked to make a few dessserts and yeast rolls, but there is no way I can go grocery shopping and bake. It is almost 1:00 a.m., and I am writing this message because I can’t sleep because of pain.
I never knew that spider bites could cause so much suffering until I read the comments on this blog.
Thank you for making it available.
I had almost the exact same thing happen to me as the story. Staph on the very top of my left foot. Took about 10 days total to run its course with one Saturday and Sunday being particularly rough. Went to the doctor twice to have fluid drained off of mine.
I did not know this could be caused by an insect bite. I thought I was getting a staph infection from out of nowhere so this makes me feel a little better.
All of you out there need to do your level best to keep yourself, your family members, and your home as clean as possible. Staph infections can get out of control quickly if you don’t meet them head on. Treat every single cut, scrape, bite, wound, etc. as seriously as possible. It’s good hygiene and it could save you a ton of money at the doctor’s office.
I have had two bad staph infections in my life.
The first one (October 2007), I was out in the garden and all of a sudden I felt a sting on my leg like a bee sting. I ran inside, pulled down my pants and started scratching because it itched and burned so bad. Big mistake… In about 3 hours it swelled up about the size of a quarter. In the morning (less than 24 hours later) it was a red ring the size of a base ball and burning hot. I went to the doctor and he said he was concerned because he had been seeing a lot of Staph/MRSA infections. He also said, even if it was a bug/spider bite, it could of caused a staph infection from me scratching it.
I can’t remember the name of the medicine he prescribed, but I went home took it as I was suppose to and no improvement. Since I was leaving for Vegas that day he told me to call him immediately if there was no change or it got worse. The next day (less than 48 hours of initial bite/soar) My leg was completely red from my ankle to my thigh above my knee. I called him that morning and he said there is a new drug on the market and he wanted to prescribe it to me since I am allergic to Sulfa meds.
He called in Zyvox to the pharmacy for me. It was a pain to get it because the cost was $2,800.00 for 10 pills and my insurance was giving them a hard time since he called it in without the results back from the culture. He basically told them, “Do you want to pay for them meds or her hospital bill when she has to go in if she doesn’t get this ASAP.” They approved it immediately and the infection took about 2 days to be almost completely gone. The problem was the meds were so strong, they had an entire list of food you can’t eat while on it and the side effect were horrible, BUT it kept me out of the hospital!
Second time (August 2008) the same thing except I got the infection near the base of my right ankle.
This time I had severe pain with the infection. I know for a fact this time nothing had bitten me. I had just finished shaving my legs in the bath tub and noticed a pimple/ingrown hair. I tried to squeeze it and nothing happened except that night it started swelling to the size of a silver dollar and was very painful (This happened in a very short time). I went to the doctor immediately the next morning because of the reaction I had the year before. I went to a different doctor this time and he wanted me to try Clindamicyn.
I took it for a day and the infection was still spiraling out of control. I went back to the doctor the next day and told him about Zyvox and how it helped me the first time. He was debating whether to admit me to the hospital or try the Zyvox again because it was so huge and hot and I could barely walk without wanting to cry. It literally felt like someone took a knife and was cutting my leg open when I would try to get out of bed or stand up from a chair. He said, “go ahead and take the Zyvox, but I want you to come back in two days to make sure everything is healing properly.” So I did.
It was almost completely gone when I went back in two days and he was shocked. He had never heard of Zyvox before. He reiterated that I was lucky cause he really wanted me to go to the hospital because of how quickly the bacteria was spreading and he didn’t want me to get the infection in my blood.
It has been 3 years since I have had an infection like that, however, I am always finding pimple like staph infections all over my body. It started in September 2010. The first time I saw the bumps on me I thought it was bed bug bites because I travel so much. I went back to the same doctor and he said it could be mites or something, but then he said if it was mites, you would have more bites and in different areas of my body. Most of the bumps occur on my arms or legs. Sometimes I have one and sometimes I have up to ten at a time. Some are very small like a tiny white head you would see on your face with no redness and others are big like hives. They are very inconsistent and pop up randomly.
I haven’t been able to associate it with any type of soap or food or animals. Its very strange. He told me to go to a dermatologist because he was honest and said he didn’t know it was or could be. He also thanked me for telling him about Zyvox because it saved a few other people who came in with infections similar to mine, but only gave it people who didnt respond to the other meds.
So, I went to the dermatologist about a year ago and he said he thought it was hives.
I didn’t agree with him, but he prescribed me a bunch of meds. So, I went to another dermatologist and he said he was uncertain but to try over the counter antihistamines and also prescribed an itching medicine. I tried the antihistamines and it didn’t work. It wasn’t like they were everywhere. A bump would just pop up here and there and itch like crazy and the more I itched it the more it did appear to look like hives, but it wasn’t.
I tried one more dermatologist and he was also uncertain, but he actually listened to me when I told him about my previous staph infections and said he wouldn’t rule it out. He told me it could be so man y things, but wasn’t quite sure. He told me to take antihistamins prescription streghth and also get some Nizoral Shampoo and wash with it twice a week and leave it on the skin for 15 minutes at a time. Then he gave me a prescription for a med to fight yeast skin infections. He told me to try these things and come back if it doesn’t get better in one month.
I never went back because I just got frustrated with no one really knowing what it is and I don’t want to take medicines for things I don’t have.
I am convinced that it is staph infection in a light form. They go away on their own and just itch for a few days. I take a lot of baths and I even use rubbing alcohol on the spots and that seems to make them itch less and go away faster. I guess it’s something I will have to live with and none of my doctors know what it is. I think next time I have some that look like pimples I will go in and have them take a culture.
I get them on my legs mostly and I have had a few on my arms, very seldom on my stomach, neck or chest. Never on my face.
Any clues?
This is odd. i had the same symptoms in my leg and they did test it(which came back as staff) but the guy at the ER drained it. It hurt allot , so bad that i was crying and about to punch the doctor out. im taking strong antibiotics and its almost healed but im wondering why most people are saying not to drain it.
When i walked the pressure was so bad it felt like the hole was all the way in my muscle, granted it was an open free flowing wound when went to the ER so he probably had to drain it. but even my aunt whose a pediatrician wanted to drain it the first time she saw it.
im not saying to drain it yourself because i couldn’t have put enough pressure on my own wound to get all the yellow crud and blood out( it hurt that much) but afterwards it was only uphill recovery from there and not nearly as much pain. BTW since my wound was in my leg in wasn’t spreading out like your foot it was burrowing a tunnel trough my leg most likely cause i think the infections usually stop at calcium.
Bailey, I hope your friend will be fine. Have him look into oil of oregano. I am amazed at the benefits of this oil. It is amazing and has been used for thousands of years.
Hi All- sorry i have not been able to check back in. August was my best month ever for my business, thank goodness my remedy worked so quickly. I wanted to let you know i also added oil of oregano to my mixture and within a week my bite was gone. Here it is almost 2 months later and i don’t even have a scar! I have photos but don’t know how to post them for you. (my first post was 8/3/11)
*AT Jo Ann: Garlic has been proven to reduce cancer due to the enzymes released from crushing it. maybe you found another good use from garlic! anyways my friend recently contracted this disease so I only talk to him on skype and texting. and from your home remedy I’m sure he will be happy to hear of it.
oh and Anyone who gets a spider bite (by all means get it checked out even if it looks harmless)! Because $30 co-pay is better than having a hole in your hand or leg or wherever and paying 100 dollars or more for checkups on it!
I’m sorry to tell everyone…A bug bite does not turn into Merca! You have to have the bacteria of Merca under nails or on skin and itch a small open cut or could be microscopic for Merca to enter..Everyone wants to blame bugs…Yes you can get a staff infection from a bug bite if its not properly cleaned or gone unnoticed.. BUT NOT MERCA…
And if you know someone that has Merca stay away especially if you have little ones!! Nothings worse than a 1 year old having a staff infection on her butt and come to find out its Merca..From her 70 year old grandmother who just got out of the hospital for Merca! Trust me been there…Soak your Whatever part of body in WARM clean water and soap and put clean sterile gauze on it.Change and soak frequently and BLEACH EVERY THING TOWELS BATHTUB HANDLES BEFORE AN AFTER TOUCHING IT OR USING IT!!!
Merca can and prob will spread! Constantly wash your hands helps too. My daughters looked just like the first picture of the spider bite next day was a size of a golf ball in her butt cheek..Poor baby couldn’t even sit on it.. I was horrified thinking what have I done wrong for her to get this..It just happens and shouldn’t have..If someone had of told me that Grandma had it she wouldn’t have been in my house for my daughters 1st birthday and my daughter wouldn’t have caught it…At least at such a young age…But with meds and bathing (Dr said bath 4times) but I bathed her 6 times a day it was gone completely in 2 weeks..Do NOT put anything on it besides washing it and the sterile gauze and tape to keep it from spreading and healing…
IT NEEDS TO DRY OUT NOT BE KEPT MOIST..I have also noticed she was getting another I put alcohol on a piece of gauze kinda “scratched it with the gauze and got another clean gauze with some more alcohol on it and kept on it and it didn’t turn into another staff infection THANK GOD!!!
I am also at this moment fighting a monster staph infection behind my triceps on my right arm, just above the armpit. It started out as a minor redness and somewhat painful feeling last Friday.
By Saturday I noticed that it had puffed up much like a bug bite. Sunday it was worst, noticed a small white dimple much resembling a boil. By Sunday night his thing was killing me, very painful and uncomfortable. The staph is in a very bad area because when my arm is down and you’re walking or doing anything it rubs. So, at that time I had my wife treated with some three in one ointment, and bandage the area.
Monday, I started to research it on line and all kinds of explanations started to pop up. One of them that caught my attention was (MRSA) mrsa and boils go hand in hand. The reason I’m bring it up is because I’ve been getting boils much more frequently now than in the past. In the past few months I’ve developed about 5 boils. One under my left armpit another under my right armpit, 2 in my groin area and one in my right eyebrow. Now I don’t know if the one I have now is also related to these frequent boils, because this one is really nasty.
Finally I went to my doctor and he put me on two types of antibiotics that I have to take for ten days. He also gave me an antibiotic ointment to apply to the wound when I bandage it up. Today is Thursday and this thing has left a hole in my skin about the size of an almond, and about 1/8″ deep. It is still drubbing and red but whatever pus was in there is out. Now comes the recovery time and I don’t know how long that’s going to be. All I can say is that I’ve never encountered anything like this before well, at least not quite as nasty as this.
My brother was recently bit by something on each arm he didn’t go to the doctor immediately. They both got swollen and huge. He went into er. The Dr. has cut them open and cut out tissue and packed it with gauze he goes back tomorrow to get the gauze removed and cleaned. I hope they know more by then. Not sure if it is just staph infection or a result of the initial bite. I just didn’t know if it was right for them to cut it completely open and dig tissue out. Let me know what you think.
My 6 year old daughter was bitten by something on her leg and it did the same thing, only now, the last bit of yuk has come out of hers and there is a little hole in her leg. She is on Bactrim and also was given the cream. The hole is clear of anything and pink, so I believe it is okay. But very scary I would say for me. It doesn’t seem to bother her seeing a hole in her leg (shockingly). I wonder if it is normal to have a hole like that though. I am going to take her back to the doctor tomorrow just to make sure. But thank you for posting your experience. It has helped me out. Good luck to you and everyone.
My daughter has a small bite or something on her back. It is not as big as a dime and the center of it is black, she says that there is a lot of pain in her shoulder, has anyone heard of this?
I think i was bitten by a spider last night while pulling weeds in my garden, Of course it is on my middle finger on my right hand which is swollen so i am having a hard time typing this. I read about the staph infections so have started my home treatment. I had a staph infection about 2 years ago after going to the er for an asthma attack. This was the only thing i found to work- so if it helps someone else i am willing to share.
I crushed a clove of fresh garlic, mixed it with olive oil, tea tree oil, and cinnamon oil. the smell is not to great but i use a cotton ball and wipe it on the infection, of course do not put the used cotton ball back into the oil always use a new ball. then keep it covered. since i work from home i did this every couple of hours. the infection cleared up with in a week. So i will watch this bite and see it will work too. I will keep you posted. I forgot that i used this treatment for poison oak this summer but had added oil of oregano. (use a good quality of oils from your health food store)
Good luck to all of you.
i am a teenager and i spend a lot of time at fire island in the summer. I’ve experienced bug bites throughout my entire life but only starting this year have i ever encountered something like what i have. its been about 3 weeks since the first bite(which looks just like most of these photos) it was on my left shin and i squeezed what i could get out of it but only made it worse. i then got another on the inside of my right knee and then one on my stomach. they all recently healed leaving horrible scars and just when i thought i was done getting them i woke up yesterday with another on my right upper thigh. it hurts to walk and i am very curious. after reading these i am convinced i have staph infection but i don’t understand why only some of my mosquito bites turn into soars…what should i do?
To those who are/were in pain in here from staph, it’s because of the necrotizing of the flesh and your body’s immune-response to it that the pain is so intense. If it is in an area where it will fill in easily, I would recommend asking the doctor to just simply cut it out if lancing or a simple antibiotic regimen will not suffice, or the pain will simply just increase. I had a rather bad staph infection once that would not readily respond to normal antibiotics for it so they cut it out (which hurt quite a lot) but didn’t hurt near as much as the flesh, well, pretty much rotting which is what the staph does in essence. Just a thought from a fellow sufferer, take it for what you will.
Hi, I have been searching the internet for several days trying to find a similar story to what I finally found! I took my dogs for a walk in a wooded area and I throw a ball for them to catch. Well, they won’t get it if it is in the weeds and I always reach down and get it. I am left handed and the next day I noticed under my left arm pit was what looked like a pea sized pimple. I also am a picker and tried with no luck to get something to come out of it, this was Wednesday, June 29th. I thought I had to be bitten by a bug or spider that was hanging out on the top of one of the weeds I had brushed against. The next day it was the size of a marble, but was hard like a rock. After 2 more days the pain was so intense I couldn’t even close my arm. I had this ice cylinder thing that was kept frozen and I would walk around with it under my arm to help with the pain. Every once in a while even though the pain was horrible, I would sqeeze it to see if anything would come out, it wouldn’t.
Now it is Sunday, July 3rd and we are going to my mom’s to celebrate her b-day. Everyone gasped in horror at the site of it and they were telling me to go to urgent care. I have no health insurance so I was dragging my feet at the thought of spending money I didn’t have. Now it is 3 inches long and only about 1 1/4 wide. We celebrated and after so much sweating and pain by the time we got home I found a thick needle, sanitized it, and poked where I could see a white pustule pretty deep. It hurt so bad I had to wait about 30 minutes and when I came back to look at it I pressed around it and OMG it started to ooze a brownish liquid and blood. After working on it for a few minutes I was able to dig in a grab a pus sak like one of the guys was saying he did. Much more pus and blood came out. I put alcohol on it(OUCH) and peroxide. I was also taking Cipro that I had left over. The next morning more pus came out and by that night it looked 90% healed.
It is July 19th and all is gone except occasional itching and a dime size red mark. However, the part that concerns me the most now is that there is a sharp pain that shoots from the area up my arm toward my elbow. When I felt that area tonight I can feel a vein that is bumpy, tight and about 6 inches long. I have a doctor appt. on Tues. but she is a pain management doctor and probably won’t be able to help me. I am frustrated and scared that it might be something bad.
I have pictures and am going to try to post them. The pictures and stories from everyone has helped me so much to know I am not alone. It really stinks that a stupid insect can cause all this stress and uncomfort.
Thanks again for everyone’s story! Linda
I got just behind my left ear what looks like the top photo of Dede’s bad spider bites. I tried to treat it if with Blood Root draw salve but it didn’t work, I’m finding relief treating it with compresses of Plantago Major (plantain) chewed leaves. The problem started 5 days ago but I started treating only two days ago and just today I found this forum. If by Monday it doesn’t improve I’ll go to the doctor.
Thanks you all for all your info. Whatever happens I’ll contribute my experience to this forum.
Hipolito
Had the same thing on the inside calf of my right leg. Went to the Dr. after a few days when spot got bigger and redness and swelling spread. He opened it up in the office and put me on antibiotics. After a week no improvement. Went into the hospital for 4 days where a section of my calf about the size of a silver dollar and 1 in or so deep was removed. Was put on vancomycin which in turn messed with my kidney function for a while and also has left me with a terrible ringing in my ears. I am now going into my 8th week of recovery and still have a open wound that will probably take a few more weeks to fill in. All we know is it was a staph infection, but do not know from what. I would not wish this on my worst enemy.
I once got a wart on the right heel of my foot, and I had been treating it properly with a medicine prescribed by my foot doctor. when I woke up one morning, I had a red streak running from the wart to my thigh. I was rushed to the emergency room and I was treated for staph infection.
I had what looked like all the pics on this blog just above my knee. I was told it was a spider bite. The pain was unbearable. After several recurrences and many doctors, it was finally determined to be herpes. I take valtrex now preventatively and that seems to slow the progression. Make sure it is cultured for herpes when going to the doctor. I worked at the ER and showed every doctor and nurse. All said it was a spider bite.