Stupid Spiders (icky pics)

[MikeMcA²]

Guess I got bit by something fairly nasty. We're not supposed to have brown recluses around here, but something nailed me last Friday. Guess I'll go to the doctor today.

No nausea, backpain, or pain in general, just itchy around the genral area and did burn on the spot when it was little like a mosquito bite. Gets a little bigger and darker each day. I hate friggin' spiders.

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[PGB]

"Walk it off!" :smile:


Last week I was working on our pool to get it opened up. I was sitting on the diving board working on the pump motor that was seized up. I've got shorts and sandals on and I look down at my feet and the largest black widow spider is crawling up my ankle. I mean she was the size of a half dollar almost.

I screamed very loudly whilst I was brushing her off my foot. Fortunately I wasn't bitten.

Oh, spiders and snakes I don't like at all if you haven't figured that out.

Good luck with that!

 

[McQ]

Nice pimple, Mike!

Add me to the list of arachnophobes.

 

[ShaunK]

Snakes = fine. Spiders = AUGH!!! :biggrin: You just can't see them sneaking up on you!

 

[vinman]

I think we haev the brown recluse virtually everywhere in the US, but they are only common in a few areas.

I don't think that's a recluse bite, though. The only reason I'd have any idea is that something got me last week on my thigh and I research "spider bites" until I couldn't see straight! A recluse bite after 48 hours has a purple-ish - blue color and the tissue is MUCH more swollen (typically). The tissue becomes very hard to the touch. You would also probably notice some degree of necropsy by now (the tissue dying and rapidly deteriorating).

If you want to have a nice little peek at what a brown recluse bit looks like, go to www.badspiderbites.com

That won't link you directly to the BR picture page - you need a little time to get used to what you'll see there. To say it's not pretty is an understatement...

That said, what you've got there doesn't look very warm and fuzzy! I hope it's getting better. Mine was looking much better after the third day, and by then it wasn't tender anymore...

 

[eng45ine]

Ugh!!! That looks terrible, hope the docs can resolve it quickly for you.

 

[DangerKilo]

If it has teeth and poison, it's on my kill list- right after the list entry that states "Get a gun". I hate poisonous things. Spiders, bugs, snakes, you name it. yuck.

 

[W.Ray]

Sometimes bites from non lethal spiders can get infected and produce that redness and swelling - I've got one right now on my foot but hydrocortisone cream seems to be helping it heal!

 

[MikeMcA²]

Yeah, I have no idea what it is. My neighbor, who's a visiting nurse, got bitten like four times on one leg and her bites looked much the same and eventually got fairly icky and left big scars. It gets darker and bigger with more blister each day. No necrosis yet, and no other ill effects. Who knows? I looked up spider bites and this looked a bit like the photos of the BR, but no necrosis yet. I guess I'll live. But I still hate spiders and am declaring war on them lol.

 

[danny_eva_01]

Ouch! I am also not a fan of spiders.

 

[milano]

i know how you feel! i hate getting spider bites, super annoying. But if you say it's getting darker around the bite site, sounds like it could have sort of cell necrosis.

 

[Palouse]

That's no spider bite--it's a sure case of Dermatitis canonensis. My friend, I think you have been in close contact with equipment of the white persuasion!!

 

[MikeMcA²]

Huh? :smile:

Dr says spider bite. Not yet necrotic and maybe won't get there. Not much they can do, it'll either get better and heal or worse and need surgery. Just a tetanus shot. I'm gonna go kill some arachnids lol.

 

[milano]

That's good news. A bit of unknown though lol. hope it all goes well.

 

[Bill Beasley]

If it's a brown recluse bite you better get a second opinion, these can get really nasty to the point of amputation. I've heard Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville has more expertise than anyone else in the country.

 

[greenville hybrid]

Other than pain medications, cleaning and dressing the wound and antibiotics if there are signs of infection, nothing much is done for spider bites. Antivenin is rarely used in black widow bites. If tissue necrosis starts to occur in brown recluse bites, sometimes a medication can be given to reduce extent of damage. Surgery is rarely needed.

 

[Anthony747]

Good luck with that Mike.

 

[MikeMcA²]

Thanks everyone. I'll be fine. Stupid spiders. :smile:

 

[vinman]

Keep us posted on your funk!
From what I read on the spider bite site, vets usually inject themselves in three spots around the bite with corticosteroids - successfully limiting the damage. This long after a recluse bite, though, I suspect you'd be in worse shape.

For what it's worth, after my bite, once I noticed the welt and white pimple-like top (guessing within a few hours of whatever bit me), the swelling started to diminish, but the red "spot" got very dark and well defined. It was about twice the diameter of a pencil eraser. The muscle tissue was very sore and achy underneath for about three days, then was fine. The tissue never hardened like described for a br bite. My bite looked very similar to yours except where you have what appears to be a water blister, I had a puss filled spot.

Palouse, what the heck are you talking about!?

 

[MikeMcA²]

Palouse, what the heck are you talking about!?

lol I was wondering the same thing but afraid to ask.

The purple/red area itself is not at all painful. The whole area for several inches is kinda itchy. He probed around and it's not really a hard knot and doesn't seem to have fluid collection under the "sore". Said there were some different things he could give me to soak United Health for a bit more cash, but nothing really does any particular good. Just gotta give it time, keep it clean, and let it heal or get worse. At least the next time they ask, I'll know when the last time I had a tetanus shot was.