How do I treat a brown recluse spider bite?

Question

I was bitten by a spider over two months ago and have been seen by two different doctors and treated with antibiotics. It has turned into an ulcer wound and seems to be getting worse. Has anyone ever experienced this before? I was bitten just above my left ankle. It is swelling and I am in constant pain. Does anyone have any home remedies to treat this or to draw the venom out?

This is no joke. I have been to the doctor 3 times and I have no medical insurance. All they have done for me is give my antibiotics and I was on those for 3 weeks. The last doctor said he could do exploratory surgery as the only other option, but I have no money for that. For now I am just soaking my ankle in salt water and putting neosphorin on the wound.

Answer 1

Go to a different doctor. I saw one bite in the Army, it got REALLY BAD. The bitten arm was literally 3 times the size it was supposed to be.

Answer 2

I got bitten on my hand earlier this summer while pulling weeds in my garden. It is my understanding that there is really not much that can be done. After about 24 hours, a sore like a huge blood blister began to form, then my hand swelled up and was throbbing with a pressure like pain. In my case, blood was escaping under my skin and whelps continued to form and spread until it covered much of my hand and one finger.The only way to relieve this was to prick the wound area and let the fluid drain. Eventually my skin turned from red to purple to almost black. The skin essencially dies-mine peeled off in one huge sheet. It has been over 2 months now and I still have very thick skin and scar tissue where this happened. Just give it some time. I went to the beach during the worst of mine and the salt water from being in the ocean seemed to help.

Answer 3

If the pain persists or the ulcer seems to be getting worse or bigger, then most likely the antibiotics you took may be ineffective. Unfortunately, there is no special treatment or medication used to treat a brown recluse spider bite. If your wound becomes deep and infected, you may need surgery. And since your wound is not healing but getting worse, you need to see a doctor (one that knows what he's doing this time) for evaluation as soon as possible.

Answer 4

If you think you have been bitten by a brown recluse spider:

* Remain calm. Too much excitement or movement will increase the flow of venom into the blood.
* Apply a cool, wet cloth to the bite or cover the bite with a cloth and apply an ice bag to the bite.
* Do not apply a tourniquet. It may cause more harm than benefit.
* Try to positively identify the spider or catch it to confirm its type.

A brown recluse bite can be serious and may require immediate medical care. Call a health professional if:

* You have severe symptoms throughout your body.
* An open sore and necrosis develop. Necrosis is black, dead tissue.

Answer 5

You need to talk with a physician that is also a toxicologist. These bites are very difficult to treat and need to be treated in a hospital with IV antibiotics and surgical debreedment of the wound site. This needs to begin as quickly as possible. Left untreated it will continue to necrose (kill) the tissue and you could end up losing your leg or worse. You may even need hyperbaric therapy. Get to an ER and make sure they understand what happened and ask for a specialist in toxicology that has treated Brown Recluse bites. Good Luck with this injury.

Answer 6

My mom was bitten by one of these. Your doctor should be keeping on top of this. After my mom got an ulcer they had to keep cutting out the infected tissue. When they finally got this done they had to put on several skin grafts. Now every couple of years it turns into an ulcer again and they have to clean it out again. Don't try to take care of it at home you could lose your leg or worse your life. Yes they did talk about amputating her leg at the knee before they got the infection under control. This all started 26 years ago for my mom. Don't mess around with this and get back to the doctor ASAP!!!!!

Answer 7

ooo those are some nasty little suckers! When I was in basic training a guy got bit by one and didn't want to tell anyone so he wasn't held back and it got so bad that he basically had a hole in his leg... into his muscule and everything. It was so bad they had to do a skin graph. Ok not to scare you because this doesn't happen often. If you do have an ulcer you need to go to the ER or to your doc asap. Ask about a topical nitro treatment to stop it from growing and look into steroids to help heal. It may need a skin graph if it gets too bad. There is a medication that can be used to lessen the risk of needed the graph or amputation but I don't remember the name of it. Go to the doc hun... a different one. Good luck!

Answer 8

I had a ten stitches for a dog bite that didn't heal. This sounds similar as I was also bit in the ankle. I had to go for circulation treatments which involved soaking my foot in a whirlpool tub and antibiotic ointments. The doctor offered to recut the stitches and sew them straight but I didn't want to have any more stitches before my wedding.

See a wound specialist.

Answer 9

I AM A SELF-PROCLAIMED EXPERT ON THE BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER. I WAS BITTEN IN MARCH. NOT A BAD BITE, BUT A BITE NONETHELESS. MY MOTHER-IN-LAW WAS BITTEN IN JULY. A FAMILY FRIEND WAS ALSO BITTEN IN JULY AND ALSO ANOTHER EPISODE LAST MONTH INVOLVING NOT ONE, BUT FIVE, BITES TO ONE OF HIS KNEES. MY SON IS CURRENTLY RECOVERING FROM A BITE. MY FIRST SUGGESTION TO YOU WOULD BE TO SEE A SURGEON IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO. NOT JUST A FAMILY DOC, BUT A SURGEON. ANTIBIOTICS ARE THE NORMAL COURSE OF TREATMENT. SOMETIMES IV FLUIDS ARE WARRANTED. WHAT SEEMS TO WORK WONDERS FOR MY RELATIVES IS A BROWN RECLUSE FIRST AID KIT AVAILABLE FROM WWW.BROWNRECLUSES.COM OR CALL THEM AT 888-RECLUSE. THE KIT IS ABOUT $30 PLUS SHIPPING. THEY CAN EVEN OVERNIGHT THE KIT TO YOU IF YOU WANT TO PAY EXTRA. OF COURSE, THE SOONER YOU BEGIN TO APPLY THE MIXTURE, THE BETTER. IT IS COMPRISED OF A POWDER THAT YOU MIX WITH SOME LIQUID STUFF. TRUST ME---IT WORKS WELL. IT WORKED WONDERS ON MY MOTHER-IN-LAW AND SON. IN THE CASE OF MY SON, IT WAS APPLIED THE SAME DAY AS THE INITIAL REACTION. IT IS A WEEK LATER, AND HE IS ALMOST HEALED. WE DID NOT GO TO A DOCTOR FOR HIS. IT DID NOT GET THAT BAD. MY MOTHER-IN-LAW RAVES ABOUT THE KIT. WE USED IT ON THE FAMILY FRIEND, BUT HIS BITES WERE SO PLENTIFUL THAT HE ENDED UP VISITING HIS DOCTOR SEVERAL TIMES. HE IS STILL OFF WORK AND HAS BEEN ABOUT 2 WEEKS NOW. THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT SKIN GRAFTS IN HIS NEAR FUTURE. HE SWEARS BY MIXING BORIC ACID WITH WATER AND SOAKING IN IT HAS ALSO HELPED WITH HIS PAIN AND HEALING PROCESS. YOU MIGHT TRY THAT. IT IS AN OLD FASHIONED REMEDY THAT OLDER PEOPLE STILL LOOK TO FROM TIME TO TIME. BEST OF LUCK ON YOUR ROAD TO RECOVERY. I WISH I COULD DO MORE FOR YOU.

Answer 10

You need to see a doctor immediately, if you wait too long this can lead to loss of limb or even death.

Go to the emergency room tonight. Brown Recluse bites are extremely lethal if not treated.