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Spider Bite Help?

Anne Miller

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Some kind of bite that I assume is a spider bite. Didn't feel any bite but it is painful.

The linkst says this is a Hobo Spider bite, we don't have these where we live in Texas.

From here: https://www.healthline.com/health/bug-bites#types-of-insect-bites

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/g17238605/spider-bite-pictures/

The bite is about the size of a dime, raised with a white hard crust or scab-like surface and redness all around the bite area.

We have Black Widows, a daddy long leg type and the garden spiders that make the big webs.

I have been using antibiotic cream and nothing is happening.

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John F Dean

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It does look like a Hobo spider bite. But there are other spiders that can produce a similar looking bite ...including a Brown Recluse. Why not see a doctor?

….give me coffee to do the things I can and bourbon to accept the things I can’t.

Trace Oswald

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I use raw honey for nearly everything like that. I would be surprised if honey didn't have it well on it's way to healed in a couple days. If you can stand the way it feels, I have had good results from putting honey on and covering with saran wrap or the like, but I hate the way it feels. The other option is to put honey on and cover with gauze, but the gauze soaks up the honey, so I reapply more often when I do it that way.

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If it didn't hurt when bit and the area is growing larger and more painful it might very well be a brown recluse bite.
I would make a doctor's appointment and at the same time apply echinacea tincture or at least a poultice to try to draw out some of the toxin.

When my mom lived with us back in the nineties she had a similar bite that even her nurses thought was from a brown recluse and we used ech. tincture for days on a piece of gauze taped to the area and healed the bite.

I would cover all my bases though and make that appointment even if you choose to cancel later.

How long ago did the bite happen? I was wondering how long it took to get to this stage.

We have brown recluses in the house, have for years along with some others that I'm not so wary of. The recluses are usually tucked back in the corners, behind things, etc. but summertime we don't leave our clothes on the floor because as often as not a recluse will show up on my shoulder while dressing and we always shake out our shoes....seems like it could be easy to get bit...I'm just in the habit of using echinacea on any bite, suspect spider, tick, chigger and all.....

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Henry Jabel

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Go to the doctor it looks similar to the staph infection I got from my daughter scratching me after going on a slide. I used a lot of herbal approaches but the fucidin they gave me still worked fastest. Though if you have some tea tree oil available I would use that on it in the short term.

Trace Oswald

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Henry Jabel wrote:Go to the doctor it looks similar to the staph infection I got from my daughter scratching me after going on a slide. I used a lot of herbal approaches but the fucidin they gave me still worked fastest. Though if you have some tea tree oil available I would use that on it in the short term.

It definitely looks like a staph infection to me. Honey works wonders for staph, but if it gets worse, I may go to the doctor.

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Judith Browning

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Trace Oswald wrote:

Henry Jabel wrote:Go to the doctor it looks similar to the staph infection I got from my daughter scratching me after going on a slide. I used a lot of herbal approaches but the fucidin they gave me still worked fastest. Though if you have some tea tree oil available I would use that on it in the short term.

It definitely looks like a staph infection to me. Honey works wonders for staph, but if it gets worse, I may go to the doctor.

It does! I had to go look at images for staph and sure enough, very similar and even mentioned that many think it is a spider bite to begin with...Anne is using an antibiotic cream though so why wouldn't that be helping if it is staph?

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Joylynn Hardesty

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My first step would be to make a paste of activated charcoal or baking soda. Put it on kinda thick and cover it with a bandaid. If possible I'd change it every 4 hours, but at least twice daily. Both of these will draw out infections. Keep an eye on it though. A doctor's visit may be in order.

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Tereza Okava

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Staph infections can be really nasty, and some are already resistant to some antibiotics. I have a family member who had one on a surgical wound and it was scary as heck.

In the short term, Joylynn's advice about making the appointment and also applying a drawing compress seems pretty good.
My kid also had a brown recluse spider bite and it evolved visibly during the 12 hours after the bite. (she ended up having to take antivenin and was fine, left a crater but it was in an area where she had a bit of extra cushion, your hand has some important stuff in that region that it would be better not to lose). Good luck.

Trace Oswald

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Judith Browning wrote:Anne is using an antibiotic cream though so why wouldn't that be helping if it is staph?

Most times not. From what I have read, most staph is somewhat antibiotic resistant even if it isn't MRSA. It takes pretty strong antibiotics to help.

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Henry Jabel

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Assuming it is staph be careful when you wash yourself, it started on my head and spread to a few other areas lower down persumably when I showered. Also get a covering on it to stop it spreading too. I didn't try some things suggested like honey, berberine etc because I simply didnt have any, so they might be worth a go if you have to wait for the doctor.

Heather Sharpe

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I agree that looks like a staph infection. I would consider going to the doctor as I have seen some horrific staph scars. Whether you do that or not, the suggestion of an activated charcoal poultice is a good one to implement right away. I have had success treating minor staph infections with it. Gently wash the wound out with mild soap and water and then apply the charcoal poultice. But don't use a band-aid or similar. As has been mentioned, staph spreads easily. When you use an adhesive bandage and remove it, that irritation to the skin, and especially hairs being pulled out, creates inroads for the staph to spread. Use something like gauze bandage, vet wrap or that stretchy stuff to hold a gauze pad on. Just not tape too near the wound. Don't use oils or waxes, as they can create an anaerobic environment in which staph thrives. Definitely no comfrey! And of course, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after touching or tending to the wound and carefully dispose of any gauze, dressings, etc.

Here is a video showing how to make and apply the charcoal poultice.

7song also has a great (but long) video on youtube about treating staph with herbs. Hope this clears up for you soon!

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Douglas Alpenstock

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That's awfully angry. How long since you were injured/bitten?

If it were me, I would lean toward seeing a physician.

Joylynn Hardesty

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A friend of mine did not take care of his staph infection. He ended up with a series of operations, for reconstruction, skin grafts, heart attack on the operating table and a year in a nursing home that claimed to be a rehabilitation place. It took several weeks to know he was still himself. More than a year after leaving the home, he still can't work.

If the infection gets worse, trouble may ensue.

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Joylynn Hardesty

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Just in case I haven't scared you enough, the tendons in his hand were actually exposed. Please take this seriously. We need you, Anne.

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Anne Miller

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Thanks, everyone for your concerns. I still think it is a bite of some sort of critter. Especially since there were no wounds to the area.

I was hoping someone had experienced the same kind of bite. That picture from the websites I link was the closest one I could find. What bothers me is the hard crusty surface.

Early spring 2018, I receive a different bite that I assume was a spicer. This one was a lump about the size of a cherry and was a reddish-purple color. It still has not healed though it quit draining pus and is now the size of a pea. I wonder if it is the reason for my current health problems.

I am going to try Joylynn's advice "to make a paste of activated charcoal or baking soda. Put it on kinda thick and cover it with a bandaid. If possible I'd change it every 4 hours, but at least twice daily. Both of these will draw out infections."

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Judith Browning

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Anne Miller wrote:Thanks, everyone for your concerns. I still think it is a bite of some sort of critter. Especially since there were no wounds to the area.

I was hoping someone had experienced the same kind of bite. That picture from the websites I link was the closest one I could find. What bothers me is the hard crusty surface.

Early spring 2018, I receive a different bite that I assume was a spicer. This one was a lump about the size of a cherry and was a reddish-purple color. It still has not healed though it quit draining pus and is now the size of a pea. I wonder if it is the reason for my current health problems.

I am going to try Joylynn's advice "to make a paste of activated charcoal or baking soda. Put it on kinda thick and cover it with a bandaid. If possible I'd change it every 4 hours, but at least twice daily. Both of these will draw out infections."

Do you have brown recluse spiders there? If so, I would check into long term problems with their bite as it can cause systemic reactions, more than just at the bite site itself.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Tereza Okava

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the recluse bite my daughter had, on the day she was bitten (she didn't feel it, but saw the spider... she had put on some clothing left on the floor of her room in a mess, i'll say no more on that topic....) had a pale bit in the middle. Not a pustule or a bubble or a scab, but it was whitish and had no feeling. It was flat, not red or raised in the middle, but it was kind of crustyish. I do recall that nobody found any bite marks and I asked, and the doctor said that sometimes there is one, sometimes two, sometimes they just don't see them.
[I should add that the city where I live is the center for brown recluse bites in the country... our local American Football team is called the Brown Spiders (not even kidding), nearly everyone has been bitten at some point or another.]

Areas of redness expanded outward over the next 12 hours or so. She has strong reactions to insect bites (can't tell you how many times I took her to the ER as a kid thinking she was bitten by a snake or a spider and it was just a strong reaction to a horsefly, etc) and she felt pain, itching, fever, vomiting, it was a long day. The red areas turned purple. She got the antivenin and took some kind of antibiotics, an IV dose and then a short oral course afterward, which is standard procedure here, and it all faded pretty quickly.

Anne Miller

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We have brown recluse in Texas though I have never seen one. I do think I remember someone showing me their bite, years ago.

Absolutely no reaction to the bite other than pain. It is just this dime-size raised hard white spot with a red area surrounding it.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Judith Browning

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This article has an interesting list of other possibilities that might cause that reaction....also mentioning that brown recluse bites are misdiagnosed quite often when the cause is actually something else so treatment given is not always appropriate...for example a tick bite reaction indicating lymes that is misdiagnosed as a spider bite.
https://spiders.ucr.edu/causes-necrotic-wounds-other-brs-bites

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Nathaniel Swasey

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I made a paste mixture of baking soda, activated charcoal and dmso on my brown recluse bite and covered that with a bandage. It seemed to work really well.

Went to a doctor and had it confirmed as a recluse bite, but nothing more was able to be done as it healed up well enough.

Annie Collins

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Plantain is a wonderful drawing herb. If you have it fresh, chew it up a bit and place on the area and keep it there. Freshen throughout the day. If you don't have it fresh, I would get it dry and make an alcohol salve according to the following method because it is fast.
https://blog.mountainroseherbs.com/making-herbal-oils#alcohol

Scott Stiller

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Hi Anne. My wife was a critical care nurse for 15 years and now an NP. She agrees with the other commenters that it is a staff infection and you should see a doctor.
As far as the pain and skin irritation goes I love marshmallow root. When I have an ms flare up I also get eczema just to make it more enjoyable. I have yet to use anything prescription or not that soothes like it does.
I wish you a fast recovery. Scott

Regards, Scott

Anne Miller

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Scott, thanks for the concern. This happened before Thanksgiving.

I used a honey-based ointment with no results for several weeks then changed to the triple antibiotic ointment for several weeks with no results. I think this is going to be like the other suspected spider bite. It is going to linger for years.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Scott Stiller

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Gotcha. I’m glad you were able to avoid a doctor visit. I hope it heals quickly!

Regards, Scott

Judith Browning

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I think I'm confused? The photo in the first post is not your bite but one similar?

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Faye Streiff

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Years ago I had a brown recluse bite on my temple. It originally made a clear blister, then tissue began necrotizing and the bite area sank into a crater with a red “bullseye” surrounding it. You can also get a secondary staph infection from bites. When I finally realized what was happening, I knew I had to act fast because Brown Recluse venom is very poisonous and congests the liver as well as causing a lot of tissue damage. I’ve seen people end up getting amputations from those bites. I took milk thistle to help support the liver, lots of Vitamin C every hour while awake to help neutralize the poison. I put a drawing black salve on the bite, washed it off after 12 hours and then used a goldenseal ointment. Within a week it was healed. I did get a little nauseated and feverish the first day or two. I don’t recommend treatment to anyone, this worked for me but might not for you. See your physician. Don’t waste time waiting to see if something works.

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Tereza Okava

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How's it going, Anne?

Anne Miller

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Judith Browning wrote:I think I'm confused? The photo in the first post is not your bite but one similar?

It was from the links that I posted. I guess the "From here:" was not clear enough. I don't have anyway to take pictures on my old cell phone.

I have just given up on trying to figure this out.

Like the bite from almost two years ago that still has not gone away. At least that one didn't hurt like this one.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Judith Browning

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I have just given up on trying to figure this out.

Like the bite from almost two years ago that still has not gone away. At least that one didn't hurt like this one.

Don't give up!

Someone is going to figure this out

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Anne Miller

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Other than pain, what bothers me is the raised white hard skin. I don't think it actually would be called crusty as that sounds flaky. And the inflamed red area around the white skin.

There was very little draining, the center when pricked by a needle bleed and formed a normal scab.

The only bugs I see in the house are scorpions. I have never been bite but hubby has so I don't think that is it.

Might have been a spider in the juniper when the bird feeder is changed. Who knows, when or where?

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

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I despise going the the doctor. That being said, I had sepsis two years ago (in my mid-30s). Mine was childbirth-related, but I learned a lot about sepsis and how you can get it from nearly any kind of infection (even a scrape on your finger). My sister treated a man who is now a quadriplegic with brain damage from an abscessed tooth that he waited to go in about and it turned septic.

So... as much as you might like to avoid the doctor’s office or try natural remedies, I promise you that sepsis is worse than antibiotics. So much worse.

Anne Miller

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Finally, the bite is starting to look like it is healing. The hard white skin is flaking off in large flakes and the whole area is starting to look like one big scab.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Tereza Okava

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Thanks for the update, Anne, I've been thinking of you! Glad to hear it's healing up.

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Make a poultice of Comfrey Leaf or root(add just enough water to vortex in blender for root) .

If you have access to Clean Clay. you can make a paste and apply.

bee well

Duane Hylton

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Anne,

Spider bites are not to be ignored. All spider venom is made up of the same 19 proteins, just in different combinational volumes. Some of those proteins are time released agents. It may look like it's improving only to go really bad.

The best thing I've used is meat tenderizer. There are two common brands in the U.S. McCormick's and Adolph's, each with a different enzyme that breaks down the proteins in a different way. Make a poultice of equal parts of each and enough water to make them into a paste. Apply it about 1/16 inch thick and cover with a bandage or cling wrap. Change twice a day until the redness is completely gone and the sore is healed. Catching it early is better, before the toxins can spread to surrounding tissue but better late than never.

By the way this treatment also works for Sea Urchin, and Jelly Fish, stings, maybe others as well. Won't work with Bee stings.

Max Lee

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Henry Jabel wrote:Assuming it is staph be careful when you wash yourself, it started on my head and spread to a few other areas lower down persumably when I showered. Also get a covering on it to stop it spreading too. I didn't try some things suggested like honey, berberine etc because I simply didnt have any, so they might be worth a go if you have to wait for the doctor.

If it's Staph...just regularly dab bleach on it with a cotton swab, and alternately, tea tree oil with some facial tissue. This method is very cheap, easy, and actually works waayyy better than oral antibiotics. Because topical treatments go directly to the source with skin infections.

Although, if the Staph has gotten into your flesh or bloodstream somehow, then this won't be sufficient.

That said, this doesn't really look like a Staph infection to me, though. They tend to look like red swellings, sometimes with a whitehead like a zit. But, not with a flaky white ring...

Maurie Rambo

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I have what I think is a brown recluse spider bite that has been on my leg about a week I don't know if it's staff or a brown recluse spider bite but it keeps getting worse and worse and it's just now starting to drain what do I do

Heather Sharpe

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Hi Maurie! Ouch, that sounds rough. Spider bites and staph can look similar. Here's a mnemonic with some criteria for helping figure out if a wound is from a brown recluse spider:

Numerous. A brown recluse usually only bites once — not multiple times.
Occurrence. Brown recluses aren’t aggressive. Unless you’ve been in a place where they tend to hide or live, it’s not likely one bit you.
Timing. Brown recluses only bite in months when they’re active —- usually from April to October.
Red center. Brown recluse bites usually have a pale center with redness around the bite area.
Elevated. Brown recluse bites are usually flat — if the area is elevated, it’s not likely a brown recluse bite.
Chronic. A bite from a brown recluse will usually heal within 3 months.
Large. A brown recluse bite is rarely larger than about 5 inches across. If the bite is larger, it could be from something else.
Ulcerates too early. Most brown recluse spider bites won’t ulcerate until 1 to 2 weeks after the bite occurs.
Swollen. Brown recluse spider bites don’t usually cause significant swelling unless they’re on the face or feet.
Exudative. Brown recluse bites don’t usually leak or cause exudate (pus). They’re more blistering or scab-like in nature.

You mentioned the wound is draining. I'm no expert, but it sounds like that isn't typical for recluse bites. Did it have an elevated, red center? Are you having any other symptoms other than the wound? Could you describe what the wound looks like or post a picture? Any floating scabs (ones that aren't attached at the edge of the wound and have pus at their edges)? Those can be an indicator of staph.

If you can't get to a doctor right away, as an immediate measure, washing the wound out with soap and water then applying a charcoal poultice like I mentioned way up thread could be a good way to keep it from worsening. I wouldn't do the charcoal if it's deep, though. Really, since it's getting worse and worse, I'd say that's a sign it's time to see a doctor. Staph can be really bad, if that is what it is. Hope you get this figured out and healed!

Anne Miller

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Maurie, welcome to the forums!

If it were my bite and it keep getting worse and worse I would go to the doctor.

From what I have heard and from people I have talked to those can get really nasty.

To me, spider bites are so different from other insect bites. Though I am lucky that mine have just been the kind to linger and just take a long time to go away.

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