Posted: 7/31/2008 5:13:51 PM EDT
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Has anyone been bitten by a Brown Recluse? I'm trying to find out what I'm in for. I was at my sister-in-law's new house last night. I lit her water heater and then we went in the back yard and checked out the storage building... Well like a dumbass I picked up an old lawn mower muffler and looked at it briefly before leaving. During one of those activities I got bit on my right ring finger. It started itching within an hour and this morning there was what looked like a big zit surrounded by red skin. By 9:00 am there was red streaks moving up my arm. I went to the Dr. at 9:30 and got some antibiotics. Right now there is an open sore that looks nasty but isn't too sore yet. Hopefully I won't end up with a finger that looks like that guy's thumb that is posted all over the internet. I'm taking progress pics and will post them as things progress. This is a picture at 12 hours after being bitten:  This is 24 hours after bite:  |
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I had a cousin that was bit on the stomach when moving furniture. It just caused a big open sore that she kept bandaged and cleaned. Eventually it healed but for a while it was just a nasty open sore. Oh yeah and she was like 5 when it happened. Good luck, keep up with it and go back to the doctor if it gets worse. |
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Had them on my leg before, just swells up to the size of a half-dollar and gets hard and tender. Dont scratch it, and keep treating it with H2O2 and triple antibiotic with a bandage. Wake up, shower, take it off for a few hours to let it air, then treat it. Treat it before bed, and then repeat. Expect a nasty scar for the next 15 years too. |
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I have alot of those brown recluse spiders in my storage building. Yes, I've been bitten by those spiders and it sucks to say the least. The best is prevention. I've been doing some upgrades as far as rebuilding the door, installing trim, priming and painting the outside. I've sprayed a pesticide around the perimeter and openings. In the next week or so, I plan to empty that building and sweep/spray to eliminate any and all spiders. The brown recluse like to hide in shadows/cover, especially in boxes. None of the boxes in my storage building are sealed, and you can tell by the spider carcasses from previous seasons. Never take an unsealed box from a storage area into your home in an area that has brown recluse spiders, that is recipe for disaster. We will go through each box and I plan to leave most out overnight with our sultry temperatures. One a last note, a neighbor of my grandparents up the street from them, in this same city I live in was an Entomologist. His specialty was spiders and specifically of this local region of NW AR. He allowed himself to be bitten numerous times by brown recluse and black widow spiders as part of his research. There is one photo that I was shown in there home of their daughter, who was a friend and the same age as my mother. The picture shows a pet tarantula on that young girls hand. It was her pet spider! I dislike all spiders except for garden spiders.  PS A room in the home of the entomologist I mentioned before was featured in a scene of the Blue and the Gray Mini Series! |
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Thanks for your comments. It looks like this one won't be too bad. Of course I still have to get through the dead tissue phase. I am hoping that since I started on antibiotics within 15 hours after the bite, I have minimized the necrosis. My hand is a little swollen back to my wrist, but again not too bad This is what the bite looks like after three days:  It actually looks at little worse in person. |
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My wife got a bite on her left side about two inches lower than her breast two years ago. She had to have surgery to remove all the dead tissue before in went into the chest cavity. Took her over two months to get over it and for the spot to heal. Just depends on how reactive you are to the spider venom and how much venom the spider got into you. The enzyme in the venom is used to predigest the inside of a bug and then the spider drinks out all the victims stuff leaving and empty shell. Antibiotic will keep you from getting an infection but do nothing to stop the enzyme in the venom. You should take it serious, seen on the web small bites like yours leads to loss of a finger. There are plenty of good sites with information just Google them. |
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Hope you recover well. The things have their own org. www.brownreclusespider.org/ |
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My brother had a nasty Brown Recluse bite just above his knee a couple of months ago. The first doc in Russellville didn't think it was a spider bite and gave him steroids, for a allergic reaction. Two days later he could barely walk because of the pain. Another doc in Conway looked at it and said it was one of the worst bites he had seen. He had a large purple knot on his leg about the size of a silver dollar. Sent him to St. Vincents in LR for several treatments in the Hyperbaric chamber. Helps force out the poison. Between the anti-biotics and the treatments everything turned out fine. We thought they would have to remove a large chunk of dead tissue, but it looks as though that will not need to be done. Oh yeah, he did get his money back from the quack in Russellville ! |
Intralesional Steroids and Dapsone are the only treatment known to help much at all. Hyperbaric Oxygen has NOT been proven to help recovery. And believe me, the hyperbaric treatment centers have been trying everything they can to get an indication. CP in Bonanza |
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i have read and seen good things with charcoal spelling is off as always. but burn a log down black let it cool grind it up into a powder put it on a paper towel then wet it into a past then put it over the bit. the charcoal helps absorve the toxians. a ladys daughter at work just got bit and it really helped her out stuck |
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Any update ? I almost died from necrotic infection due to a Brown Recluse bite. My bite was on the edge of my hand, midway between wrist and base of my pinky finger (aka 'karate chop' spot). Ended up three weeks in hospital, massive tissue loss, and a vagina-shaped hole in my hand for about three months. About four different kinds of antibiotics and daily whirlpool q-zine baths to combat infection, and stuffing the wound with iodoform gauze batting. |
That experience is rare even for Brown Recluse bites. Most do fine, or get a small necrotic center. The massive tissue loss you had is only in a very small minority of cases. In other words, you're lucky... it's just the wrong kind of luck. |
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Yeah, I was a little disappointed that it didn't any worse. Yeah right. Fortunately the bite must have been either very light or a small spider. I have a small 2-3 mm dead spot that isn't very deep. I think getting on antibiotics within 14 hours minimized the necrosis. My hand did swell back to the wrist and there were small dimples rather than knuckles, but over all the damage was minimal. I appreciate all of the advice and good wishes. Steve |