Spider Bites - Not all are Itsy-Bitsy
We share this planet with many different creatures, and some of them bite (including our own species, but that is another blog). Animal bites are listed among the more common reasons that people seek medical care or advice, and my practice is no different.
High on the list of biters, and certainly high on the fear factor list, is spiders. First, the bad news: It has been estimated that there are about 20,000 species of venomous spiders that live in the United States. Non-venomous Tarantulas are now popular pets among strange people (my opinion). If you add in visiting spiders from abroad that hide in your luggage or stowaway on banana boats, there are more alien species out there. Since our WebMD members are from all over the world, you have my sympathy. I saw a spider in Australia the size of a bird! And, as much as I would like to float down the Amazon, there are spiders there that nightmares are made of.
Now, the good news: Most American spiders lack the fangs capable of penetrating our tough skin or to produce a poison strong enough to cause harm to humans. There are two spiders in particular that can cause some serious harm...even death. The most well-known of these spiders is the infamous Black Widow (there is also a Red Widow and a Brown Widow). Personally, I don't like to get close enough to determine their current marital status. The other is the Brown Recluse spiders. Both of these nasty arachnids can cause a painful bite, tissue damage, and even death. Most serious and rare, fatal reactions occur in curious people who live closest to the ground. I am talking about children.
Getting a true description of the biter is important since there will not be a police line-up. The Black Widow is a glossy-black spider about the size of a quarter (counting those eight legs). They have an hour-glass shaped marking on the bottom of their abdomen, usually red or orange. They love living in piles of firewood, under steps, or in dark garages and basements. They have an attitude not unlike my first-grade teacher, and will bite with little provocation. They will not chase or hunt you down, however. The Brown Recluse is smaller and brown, of course, with a violin-shaped marking on the back, hence their other name, the Fiddle Back Spider. Personalities of individual spiders vary, just like people, but you don't want to mess with "The Fiddler".
If you or your child encounters a harmless spider, leave it alone. Personally, I try and kill the poisonous ones that I find near the house or play areas. I hope this does not offend the Buddhists or PETA, but I am not brave enough to develop a capture and release program or try and rehabilitate them against biting me or my grandchildren. I pay the mortgage. They are squatters, so they gotta go. Yes, I believe that all of God's creatures have a right to live, but just not under my stairs.
If you are bitten by a spider that is not on the bad list, you will most likely just get a painful, itchy red spot, not unlike an ant or insect sting. Even some Black Widow or Recluse bites may not cause more than a painful, local reaction. If the spider is having a particularly good day and you are lottery-lucky, it may not inject venom. These two venomous spiders produce a bright red bump within a few hours that will evolve into some local tissue damage called necrosis. The surrounding skin may be purplish-black and eventually ulcerate - a nasty-looking wound that can take months to heal. It may even leave a permanent scar as a reminder of your close encounter. Tissue damage from a Brown Recluse may even require plastic surgery or a skin graft.
A Black Widow envenomation will cause systemic reactions - muscle cramps, abdominal pain and rigidity, rapid heart rate, sweating, nausea, vomiting, or, in my case, screaming like a little girl. Because Black Widow spider bites have the potential to kill this is a true emergency. It is 911 and Emergency Room time. Children can have a mortality rate as high as 50%, so this is not something to procrastinate about. Antivenin is available for Black Widow bites, and it should be administered promptly. There is no antivenin for the Brown Recluse, but there is emergency treatment.
Have I sufficiently frightened you? I bet that I am going to have some good dreams tonight...
Related Topics: Preventing Poisoning in Young Children, Kids Vulnerable to Medicine Mishaps
Technorati Tags: spiderbites, blackwidowspider, brownreclusespider
High on the list of biters, and certainly high on the fear factor list, is spiders. First, the bad news: It has been estimated that there are about 20,000 species of venomous spiders that live in the United States. Non-venomous Tarantulas are now popular pets among strange people (my opinion). If you add in visiting spiders from abroad that hide in your luggage or stowaway on banana boats, there are more alien species out there. Since our WebMD members are from all over the world, you have my sympathy. I saw a spider in Australia the size of a bird! And, as much as I would like to float down the Amazon, there are spiders there that nightmares are made of.
Now, the good news: Most American spiders lack the fangs capable of penetrating our tough skin or to produce a poison strong enough to cause harm to humans. There are two spiders in particular that can cause some serious harm...even death. The most well-known of these spiders is the infamous Black Widow (there is also a Red Widow and a Brown Widow). Personally, I don't like to get close enough to determine their current marital status. The other is the Brown Recluse spiders. Both of these nasty arachnids can cause a painful bite, tissue damage, and even death. Most serious and rare, fatal reactions occur in curious people who live closest to the ground. I am talking about children.
Getting a true description of the biter is important since there will not be a police line-up. The Black Widow is a glossy-black spider about the size of a quarter (counting those eight legs). They have an hour-glass shaped marking on the bottom of their abdomen, usually red or orange. They love living in piles of firewood, under steps, or in dark garages and basements. They have an attitude not unlike my first-grade teacher, and will bite with little provocation. They will not chase or hunt you down, however. The Brown Recluse is smaller and brown, of course, with a violin-shaped marking on the back, hence their other name, the Fiddle Back Spider. Personalities of individual spiders vary, just like people, but you don't want to mess with "The Fiddler".
If you or your child encounters a harmless spider, leave it alone. Personally, I try and kill the poisonous ones that I find near the house or play areas. I hope this does not offend the Buddhists or PETA, but I am not brave enough to develop a capture and release program or try and rehabilitate them against biting me or my grandchildren. I pay the mortgage. They are squatters, so they gotta go. Yes, I believe that all of God's creatures have a right to live, but just not under my stairs.
If you are bitten by a spider that is not on the bad list, you will most likely just get a painful, itchy red spot, not unlike an ant or insect sting. Even some Black Widow or Recluse bites may not cause more than a painful, local reaction. If the spider is having a particularly good day and you are lottery-lucky, it may not inject venom. These two venomous spiders produce a bright red bump within a few hours that will evolve into some local tissue damage called necrosis. The surrounding skin may be purplish-black and eventually ulcerate - a nasty-looking wound that can take months to heal. It may even leave a permanent scar as a reminder of your close encounter. Tissue damage from a Brown Recluse may even require plastic surgery or a skin graft.
A Black Widow envenomation will cause systemic reactions - muscle cramps, abdominal pain and rigidity, rapid heart rate, sweating, nausea, vomiting, or, in my case, screaming like a little girl. Because Black Widow spider bites have the potential to kill this is a true emergency. It is 911 and Emergency Room time. Children can have a mortality rate as high as 50%, so this is not something to procrastinate about. Antivenin is available for Black Widow bites, and it should be administered promptly. There is no antivenin for the Brown Recluse, but there is emergency treatment.
Have I sufficiently frightened you? I bet that I am going to have some good dreams tonight...
Related Topics: Preventing Poisoning in Young Children, Kids Vulnerable to Medicine Mishaps
Technorati Tags: spiderbites, blackwidowspider, brownreclusespider
21 Comments:
You know, my sister was bitten by a brown recluse spider about 7 years ago. in all honesty she has not been well every since.
She was deathly ill for several weeks. fever, vomitting (had to have IVs could not even drink water) she was on alot of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. Most disturbing is that she has had an ever increasing WCC every since this happened. Initally it was around 13,000. Over the last 7 years it has never went down and is now around 20,000. She has lost all her energy and her joint pains are terrible. We wonder if she will ever fell good again. Or if her WCC will keep increasing more and more. Seems there is nothing can be done about it!
I have been bitten by a brown recluse. It was my lucky day where it only injected alil venom. I was 8 at the time. My ankle was the size of a baseball and doctor said to soak it. With that it released the poisons. It was painful. It hurt. But it was kinda cool to see it all come out.
I was bitten by a brown recluse when I was about 12 years old (25 years ago). It bit me on the second toe, I didnt even notice that I was bitten until one day I was sitting in my living room with my parents and noticed a bright red line traveling up my leg, it was to my knee cap. I showed my parents and without hesitation they took me to the emergancy room where I received a shot. It did itch alot after that and to this day I have a small crater in my toe.
it is thurs. june 14, i was envenomated once on last thursday by a fiddle back and again that following sunday, symptoms didnt start to show till monday morning, swelling, and joint pain in my knuckles,(both bites are within an inch of each other on the back of my left hand.),the first bite only caused two little sores because i took tweezers and messed with it, and i guess the second bite received more venom, causing a rapid response. i knew what bit me, i told my doc on mon., he gave a bottle of antibiotics and sent me home, next day my hand was hurting pretty bad so he prescribes codeine,(which didnt help) , wed., it started to bruise around the bite and a little sore appeared, my knuckles were swollen where i could barely move my fingers, i called the doctor and he prescribes a Medrol dose pack(cortisosteroids). which seems to be gradually reduce the swelling, but my wrist and knuckles still have the same pain. nothing dramatic, just a lot of discomfort. hell, i was looking through wood piles and under things trying to find bugs or spiders big enough to feed my giant pet black scorpion, which prefers spiders over crickets.
this isn't really a comment, more of a question. I'm one of those wierd people that have a pet tarantula...two actually. anyway while holding them i think that they have flicked their hairs -- defense mechanism -- onto my eye lid. I've had no problem with my eye hurting, only slight stinging on the outside of my eye lid. however, my vision in that eye is beginning to get a little blurry and i am going to see the doctor tomorrow, just wondering if there were any suggestions or any help at all.
i have a question i just got bitten by a spider within the last day or so i just noticed the bite.the bite is the size of a quarter and an area around my big toe is a little purple at the joint i got bit towards my ankle.i live in the philadelphia area so i highly doubt it was a fiddle back but im just curious on what it may be.i never felt the bite and i never saw the spider.
anonymous on 12/30/07:
Try this article about spider and insect bites. It should help you.
someone brought a black widow to my science class.
It was bigger than a quarter. with the legs, it was about this big:
rear end:
_____
_
head
and its legs were longer.
thank you for the information!
I believe I was bitten under my Right eye about 2-3 months ago. There was an upraised sore which eventually became very puffy and closed my eye partially. And I think the same thing has happened again, only this time it's under the right eye. I believe that both times this happened, I was asleep so I couldn't possibly know what bit me, or if it was even a spider. I still sort of have a hard spot under my right eye, under my cheekbone.
8 Years ago I was bitten by a Brown recluse and it took over a year of treatment to get rid of the hole he left on my ankle, but the damage he did to my leg is horrible. Now, 5 months ago, I was tearing apart a black mold infested room and suddenly in the same exact spot on my ankle, a hole opened up even bigger than the spider bite. It was diagnosed with Pseudomonas Aeruginosa. The Dr gave me antibiotics to kill that but I'm having a hard time healing and the pain feels just like someone has a blow torch right under my ankle. The Dr did a blood test this week because I am all broke out with a rash, and now my liver tests are elevated. What a nightmare! My Dr and I are pulling our hair out! You should buy stock in spider spray cuz I carry cans of it around and I don't clean moldy areas anymore!! I'm trying REALLY hard but some days are pretty depressing!
My son was bitten by a spider this morning I believe or it may have been yesterday. He's two and the bite are 2 little puss bumps. I havent seen the spider so couldnt tell you what it looks like but wanted to know what do i do?
Im 15 years old and I to have been bitten by a spider. I cant say what kind or how it looked like because it bit me when I was sleeping. At first it looked like an over grown pimple and it was hurting me really bad. Since I had never been bitten by a spider before I thought it could of been a boil because it was rapidly filling up with puss. I decided to pop it. I tried to push as much out as I could but that didnt help cause it only got worse. It was so painful. It had to holes full of puss and it looked really infected. I went to the doctors and they perscribed antibiotics and
anti-inflamatory steriods.Its gotten better but hasnt fully healed. I belive it is goning to leave an ugly scar.
well i guess i got bit by a brown recluse on my side, i guess while sleeping after reading this i guess i'll be at my doctors door monday morning
In 1979 I was bitten by a black widow spider in my thigh. The pain progessed bilaterally down and up my body in 2 inch intervals, reaching to my toes and stoping at the bottem of my diaphram. The pain and muscle spasms were excrutating a combination of Demerol and Valium IM controlled it for about 20 min. As the pain was decreasing it left the same way it came, in about 2 inch intervals, taking about 3 months for it to totally stop. My toes ached for months after. I am now 60 and have horrible aches and pains. I am wondering if this has any association with my spider bite?
my uncle (well he sorta is) got bite by a spider i think and its swollen its got 2 bite marks and where he got bite it has 2 rings going all the way around his arm...its getting worst and we dont know if its from a spider or something else...can u help?
Everyone should be aware: a recluse spider likes to hide in closets and one should make an effort to clean, vacuum the cloets on a monthly basis, they like to hide in shoes, boots, not worn every day, the bite may take months to treat and one can lose flesh from the bite, some have gone blind, etc, it may look like a small harmless spider, but it is deadly, it took me 6 yrs to clear an area where I was bitten between 2 toes, made the mistake of slippiing on my rubber garden boots after having them in a closet, and it dev, into a real problem,
i have been bitten by a spider on my temple (yes, on my face!). it's not the first time. the first time was on my shoulder. both times were while i was sleeping. anyway, the starte out looking and itching like normal insect bites but, i knew they were spider bites because i had seen the two little fang marks from where the spiders had bitten me. after a few days of intense itching, they start to look like ringworm. the first time, after about a month it grew to be the size of a half dollar. erven though i knew it was a spider bite, everyone kept telling me it was ringworm. after about 3 months of habitual ringworm medication usage, and digging at it, it finally went completely away. so my question is, what kind of spider bit me?
Contrary to the information listed in this article, I believe an anti-venom has been developed by researchers at Vanderbilt. It seems it is not widely available, though.
I have a whopper of a tale to throw on the rest of the heap.
I have been dealing with my injury for 2 years and I may still be for however more I do not know.
The bite was on the inside ankle. went very deep and then spread and even tunneled under the skin to the other side. The pain was so bad and for so long that it has altered my life in a very negative way. I am on a constant journey to heal and close the wound. sometimes I have hope and some days I do not. Dr's don't know very much of what to do from here. I have found one blessing that I will share. Everyone that has seen my bandages asks why and I tell them "the story". This has turned out saving many people that have gotten bitten the same slow journey that I have had. They are very pro active after the bite and when they see the spiders prior to getting bitten they get rid of them.I was not as lucky,I had never heard of this spider and thought at the time that it was a bite from a fire ant.It was 2weeks before i looked for help.
I will continue to look for other ways to heal this and pray that it doesn't happen to any one else.
I have heard that death has fallen onto some here in Florida.
And the written word says that the brown recluse is not found this far south!!! I scream to differ.
I was bit my a spider? last Saturday. The pain was instant and there was definitely swelling, redness, etc. I could not walk without pain in my leg. When I woke in the morning the pain was better, however, I could see that both areas of where I was bit were turning black & blue. It has now been six days and the black & blues are even more prominent. After checking out some of the info on the website, I'm not sure if I should just let time take it's course, or if you would recommend treatment.
I found a strange, large portion of irritated skin in the pit of my arm it started out about as small as a penny and has grown to a size bigger than a half-dollar coin. My mother took a look at it and scratched the head off of it and it oozed a slightly mucas looking pus type stuff, I had one before that was smaller and did the same but never grew so large, if you know what it is, could you post it somewhere so that I might know what you believe it to be, thank you. P.S. the closest thing I found to it was a fire-ant bite or a brown recluse bite but more like both of them together, it's pretty bad, verry painful, and when i put my arm to my side I must do it slowly or the pain becomes worse.
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