What's good to put on a brown recluse bite?

Answer 1

If you are indeed sure it is a Brown Recluse spider bite you've got to see a doctor. If it is possible, find the spider (dead or alive) and take it with you for identification. While there are no medicines to counter the poison from a Brown Recluse, there are immune system 'boosters' that the doctor may want to administer. On the natural remedy side, there is a brown sticky sustance called 'Drawing Ease' that is used to draw the toxins out of small wounds. It is sold in a small tube (looks like a tube of bengay) at most pharmacies. Smear it, thickly, on and around the puncture, cover with a couple of gauze pads and secure with tape. Check it after a day and you will probably notice a localization of the fluid under the wound. Wipe clean, reapply the Drawing Ease and wrap it for another day. After a couple of applications the swelling should have reduced significantly. Keep this up until any oozing of fluid discontinues. If, after a week, you do not notice any signs of the skin healing (absence of scabbing) apply a poultice made from a leaf of Cumfrey (a weed that thrives in the summer heat. It has 8"-18" wide, fuzzy leaves and grows close to the house - ask an old-timer in the neighborhood to point it out). Wrap the applied area with gauze again and leave alone for another 12 hours or so. The area will be an ugly green when you remove the bandage but healing should begin almost immediately.

Answer 2

Combine equal parts of the detergent Tide and corn meal (not corn meal mix). 2 tablespoons each should do it. Mix enough water to make a thick paste. Dampen a cotton cloth (a big strip from a t shirt will work) and place the mixture on the cloth. Fold the cloth so the mixture won't come out. Heat over steam or in microwave til very warm but not hot enough to burn the skin. Place over bite til it cools down. Repeat this until you have done this 4 or 5 times. Before going to bed that night, reheat this, place on bite, and tie or tape in place. Keep on overnight. You can remake mixture at any time. I used this on myself when bitten by a brown recluse 3 times on my arm. I have scars from the bites, but my arm healed fine. I hope this helps.

Answer 3

If bitten, remain calm, and immediately seek medical attention (contact your physician, hospital and/or poison control center). Apply an ice pack directly to the bite area to relieve swelling and pain. Collect the spider (even a mangled specimen has diagnostic value), if possible, for positive identification by a spider expert. A plastic bag, small jar, or pill vial is useful and no preservative is necessary, but rubbing alcohol helps to preserve the spider.

An effective commercial antivenin is not available. The surgical removal of tissue was once standard procedure, but now this is thought to slow down wound healing. Some physicians administer high doses of cortisone-type hormones to combat hemolysis and other systemic complications. Treatment with oral dapsone (an antibiotic used mainly for leprosy) has been suggested to reduce the degree of tissue damage. However, an effective therapy has not yet been found in controlled studies.

Answer 4

What are you doing wasting your time posting on yahooanswers?! call a physican before you talk to any idiots on the web! As far as brown recluse bites go its unlikely thats that what it was as the spider bites are rare even in south florida. But i agree with one of the previous answers, you already have an existing medical condition and even tho you only described problems symptomatic of a diabetic who needs to eat something its better safe than sorry, or dead. Good luck with not dieing and bug-bomb your house when u get back from the doctors.

Answer 5

Be extra cautious with that. My friend had been bitten 16 months ago and she is still having a bruised ankle. She had all sorts of tests and they do not know why it is not healing. She has gone to numerous doctors during these months. Leg was grotesque for awhile, very swollen. Now there is discoloration and itching. A brown recluse is poisonous.

Answer 6

If you are sure it is a brown recluse go to the Dr.. I think there is often nerve damage with brown recluse bite. Good luck.

Answer 7

If you know you were bit by a Brown Recluse Spider, you should not waste anytime in seeking treatment. This is a life threatening emergency.

Answer 8

Get to an Emergency room right away, I've seen people loose an arm from those bites

Answer 9

Seek medical attention at once. If one is allergic to a brown recluse , it could end up costing you a limb , or two .

Answer 10

if you are sure it is brown recluse, don't ignore it. they can really swell up in some cases. maybe neosporin to see how it progresses, see doctor if it gets noticably worse. lived in oklahoma and they were everywhere, along with Okies.