Brown recluse spider bites: Kill yourself instead

Mork says:

Those pictures are pretty extreme… but I remember reading somewhere that extreme necrotizing only happens if you happen to be extra-sensitive to it…

Not like I want to try my luck.

Andrew says:

Yeah, me either. And I don’t know what (if any) medical attention those people had. For all I know, they said, “I’ll let my body heal itself.” :)

And the worst thing is, they didn’t engage in any risky activity. It’s not like, say, poison ivy or lightning strikes that you can avoid. There’s nothing you can do. You either get bit or you don’t.

[shiver]

Passerby says:

Well, there is the whole set of pictures and more description at http://www.snopes.com/photos/bugs/brownrecluse.asp

Leland says:

Seen that. It gets real bad if you don’t seek help for the bite. That’s when they come walking into the emergency many days after the bite starts bothering them.

JoDel Wallenberg says:

In 1980 my daughter was bitten by one, a neighbor, reconized the bite, He heated up end of a coke bottle, put the open end over the bite, (YUCK!) it sucked out her dead skin 2 inches long. she has a indentation from that bite. amazing how fast it eat’s & kill’s your skin cells!

Thomas J says:

A Lady a short way down the road from us was bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider while cleaning house several years ago..I do not remember all the details as related by her Husband but to this day remmains tot this day mostly paralyzed & unable to walk..Best advice if bitten is to capture & save it in a suitable container and take it with you to the Hospital for identification for best treatment..

Kay says:

We live in Tennessee and have had a problem with brown recluse spiders for the past month. We’ve had regular pest control, but continue to catch spiders in glue traps. My problem is the spiders don’t behave the way they’re “supposed” to. The first one I found crawling ON OUR BED in broad daylight! They’re not in closets or in any storage boxes. Somehow they’re getting in the house and cruising along the baseboards. I even found 2 in my kitchen sink, another 2 in a bathroom sink, both during the day. Otherwise I usually do not see them coming or going, just when they show up in the traps. I want to MOVE.

phaleesha says:

they ae seriously scary! me and my cousin found one in her bed we have read about the many deaths and we are very much confused….

jessica says:

yeah….that photo is a pretty extreme case. the extent of the tissue damage depends on how much venom is introduced into the victim, and apparently how sensitive they are to the venom and how strong their immune system is. i was bit 5 days ago on my hand and have suffered no necrosis. i don’t know if this is luck, or if my immune system is off the charts – it is quite strong as i’m vegan, consume incredible amounts of antioxidants, don’t smoke, rarely drink, never use prescription antibiotics, etc…..i’ve just been keeping it very clean with natural antimicrobials (goldenseal, echinacea, tea tree oil, comfrey) and making sure my immune system is as strong as possible. also arnica helps for the discomfort, and charcoal capsules help as they absorb toxins. based on the research i’ve done, a secondary bacterial infection is usually what causes the most damage, so if you can keep it from getting infected you should be ok. but i’m not going to lie, it does really effing hurt.

mike says:

you are a bitch

Leland says:

Wow! Mike really settled that one.

jessica says:

i know, right? he’s so eloquent

kaitlyn says:

thats gross

Anonymous says:

it is so scary

Ashley says:

I looked at the flikr collection when you mentioned it. I wish i hadn’t. I’m not a stranger to gore but that was some of the most disgusting stuff i’ve ever seen. How do you just let something like that get that far?

alyssia says:

how do you live like that

Anonymous says:

omg im all itchin and shit now.

francisco says:

Dat shits crazy

Anonymous says:

That’s gross because I did not thank a brown recluse could do that.

Tom says:

I’m going for what thomas J. said, take it a bucket or a container with a lid preferably and brig to the hospital for tests.

Jodi says:

that is nasty

dick merkin says:

What is REALLY sad is that researches at Duke developed an antivenin for brown recluse bites. However, it is too expensive to produce, so it is an orphan drug.

Anyway, there really isn’t much to do from brown recluse bites except to watch it turn necrotic, try to prevent infection, treat the pain and fix it later. The last guy I saw with this was a machinist and he got a bite on his hand. it was devastating.

Daniel says:

WOW if a brown recluse bites is it very painfull or like a sting

Anonymous says:

this sis so scary i hate spiders

Anonymous says:

that realy scary he needs to be more careful

Anonymous says:

I was bitten by a Brown Recluse when I was about 7. It didn’t hurt at all, and I don’t think it looked anything like that. Then again, when I see pictures from that time period, I have a gauze bandage wrapped around my head like a headband (I was bitten right in front of my ear- I was sleeping and rolled over on it) so I don’t know what it exactly looked like.

It took about nine months to heal, but I didn’t care. I was 7- it didn’t really hurt, so I didn’t take notice.

Even so, avoid being bitten by them, it’s not a good thing.

Anonymous says:

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I had three surgeries for the bite, but one was before they diagnosed it. They just had to drain it ’cause it would fill with puss (apparently it was really icky).

But it got better, so it’s not actually that bad.

I think I had medicine for pain though…

Anonymous says:

i got bit by one and threw it at my sister and she ended up dieing

Heather says:

My friend got bitten by one of those spiders, it was in her car. She woke up the next morning and her ankle was swollen. She went to the hospital and turns out it had laid eggs inside her leg. They had to remove them, she almost lost her leg. It was really bad.

Eddonna says:

If you were “bitten by a recluse” but it didn’t swell or necrotize or put you in the emergency room, then you weren’t bitten by a recluse. There are other spiders out there who will bite you, you know.

Barb says:

While on St. John, USVI, I was bitten by “an insect”. Just a little red bump. By day 3, half my forehead was swollen and there was a mark on the bridge of my nose. By day 4, my ear and the top of my head hurt. On day 6, 3 tiny dots appeared on my forehead Day 7, a necrotic area in the shape of an L about 3/4 in. long was on my forehead. After antibiotics, I’m waiting for the depressed area to close –3 weeks later. Now Dr. #4 says it is not a bite, but shingles. No pain, no rash, no symptoms of shingles. Any ideas/comments? Barb

jackripper says:

Eddonna says:
If you were “bitten by a recluse” but it didn’t swell or necrotize or put you in the emergency room, then you weren’t bitten by a recluse. There are other spiders out there who will bite you, you know.

ok just cuz it’s not a recluse dont mean its not going to swell or necrotize. and for any1 that think a spider bit isnt bad then think again always get them checked cuz ALL spiders use nerotoxin that eats the cells… take a wolf spider the venom isnt toxic to most humans but if your alergic it can and most likey put you in the hospital(dont bother with a doctor office they’ll just tell you to goto the hospital). not only that alot of animals do at one point or anothere crossbreed so they may look like one breed and thats a big reson to allways try and catch the spider that bit you

Dan says:

“If you were “bitten by a recluse” but it didn’t swell or necrotize or put you in the emergency room, then you weren’t bitten by a recluse. There are other spiders out there who will bite you, you know.”

A small percentage of the population(a very small percentage) is actually immune to the recluse venom, and can be bitten by them without the extreme effects that most people would experience. While these people are rare, being few and far between, one cannot assume that just because the effects seen in most people aren’t there, that it wasn’t a brown recluse that bit them.

Just my two cents.

tyler says:

i think i got bit a couple days ago but nothing has happened yet and i haven’t been sick either anything i need to know?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Carolyn says:

I had a strange bite on my hand a few years ago after reaching under a sofa in a sun room, and I happened across that site with the graphic pictures and treatments. Freaked me out! {Patient treated with stun gun}It taught me to not get all caught up in internet research for every little thing I get! Was a bizarre bite and site, though.

Carol says:

I found this blog because about 9 years ago I was bitten by a Brown Recluse on the botton of my foot.I was on crutches for about 5 weeks, after being treated about a dozen times with different antibiotics, etc. One podiatrist that I went to even took pictures of it to submit to some type of medical book.It was nasty. Ooozing, itching, skin just rotting away.(sorry)I thought it would never heal, but eventually, it did.Now yesterday, I was bitten by something.I don’t know what, but it sort of looks the same way the other bite did in the beginning:a small blister with a head, filled with pus/fluid, red, slightly swollen, and it itches so bad that I want to rip my two toes off. (yep, the same foot, too) The bites (2) are right between my toes.I’m keeping an eye on it, but since it doesn’t seem to have gotten much worse, I was wondering if I had built up an immunity against the venom because of my prior bite. I don’t even know if this bite is from a brown recluse, but it sure feels the same way!Maybe it was just a different kind of spider (I’m fairly sure it’s a spider bite). I dunno. But I’ll tell ya what….these bites are between my toes, the bite 9 years ago was on the fleshy part of my foot below my toes, but as I’m typing this, the original bite site is starting to itch and burn too. Weird, huh?

Carolyn says:

Carol, I hope you have not been bitten again. Living in the boonies of Bent Mountain, I shake out all my clothes and really check my shoes before I put them on,especilly if you leave shoes outside. When I thought I had a bite, it looked like a red Cheerio on my pinkie finger, but it was not a Brown Recluse, as far as I can tell as the bite just looked strange and burned and itched. The spiders tend to hide in dark places and have nothing to do with your cleaning habits. These and all spiders will try to get in your house as the temps get cold. I send you my ladybugs, and stink bugs,and crickets, LOL! Take care, and I hope you are OK!
Also, no perfumes during bug season if you are going outside, the bugs just love that!
Carolyn

Carol says:

Carolyn,
Thanks for your input. I live near Myrtle Beach, SC, where (I’ve been told), every species of poisonous spider and/or snake just loves to live. Where is Bent Mountain? My bites look about the same today, so I now doubt that it was a Brown Recluse. Still keeping an eye on it though. I have a dr. appt. tomorrow (just moved down here, this is just a “new patient” visit), so I think I’ll ask him just to look at it. I’ll take your Ladybugs if you’ll take my “Palmetto Bugs”…I always thought they were roaches…but I’ve been told differently…..LOL. Again, thanks for your comments and concern. I’ll let you know what my Dr. says.
Carol

kelsie says:

it frightening

Kelsie Kaminska says:

Its not a nice felling

chuck says:

I was personally bitten by one of these guys four (YES 4) times! Twice on the right arm, and two more times around my belt line on the right side. IT WAS THE MOST INTENSE AND AGONIZING PAIN I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED! I spent a few weeks in the ICU and an additional week recovering before I was released. I was told by every doctor who saw me that I was just hours from losing my hand, and extremely close to death. I encourage everyone who thinks they have encountered one of these spiders to SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION IMMEDIATELY! MINUTES COUNT!

Anonymous says:

I got bitten on the nipple by one two nights ago, I’m scared.

r says:

The pictures are not extreme. They are accurate. I have seen these bites and their results, and know people who have had them. One man died.
These are the only thing I spray for, them and black widows. ICK!

Roughneck says:

I Happen to kill a brown spider (brown recluse) on my leg wehre it did bite me. I work long hours in the sun and they seem to like my moist cool boots. I had a small red bump on my leg with two small scabs right in the middle…..Ya pretty sure it was from the spider i just killed, nothing else it could’ve been. No swelling, no pain, just itching. It still itches from about a week ago but it hasn’t done jack. Yes some people are immune to certiain toxins. Just like poisen ivy. I know people who can get it from airbone spores! yet i have to rub it in my skin to even get an itch. My full blood sister although had to have plastic surgery on her leg from one.