Recluse spider bite

[lovin'fl]

Anyone know anything about recluse bites? My DD-22 noticed an itchy huge red welt on her thigh yesterday. It had bruising around the edges. She took some Benedryl. Today the welt has gone down and it's just a giant horrible bruise. Thinking it's a recluse bite. What should she watch for?

 

[lovin'fl]

Some pics...1st was yesterday, 2nd is today and 3rd is close up of today where she circled 3 red dots that may be where she was bit????

 

[EMom]

Go to the doctor.

 

[lovin'fl]

Go to the doctor.

Trying to convince her. Possibly losing her leg was not scary enough. Uggh. Told her they may give her strong antibiotic that she can't drink with...maybe 3 day Z pack. She has plans for Halloween Saturday night so....that seemed to work. I guess they could do 5 day pack...I didn't tell her that though.

 

[NannyBeBe]

Recluse bites get worse very quickly. It appears that this one is getting better. I would watch it closely and if it worsens, get to the ER immediately.

 

[Dan Murphy]

WebMD and Mayo, two good reference sources

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/spider-bites/symptoms-causes/syc-20352371

https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/spider-bite-brown-recluse-spider-bite-treatment

 

[JoeA]

My aunt got bit several years ago and a large chunk of flesh died around the area. Not anything you want to chance IMO.

 

[lifesavacation]

I got bit by something bad a few years ago. My bite was filled with pus and blood and had to be drained. I also needed antibiotics. I had a bruise like in the pics, but I also had a large angry lump on top of it. Definitely watch out for something like that.

 

[Adelle Dazeem]

Call a fricking doctor and get it looked at. Good grief.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Yeah, don’t like the way that looks. She should have it evaluated.

 

[bcla]

Trying to convince her. Possibly losing her leg was not scary enough. Uggh. Told her they may give her strong antibiotic that she can't drink with...maybe 3 day Z pack. She has plans for Halloween Saturday night so....that seemed to work. I guess they could do 5 day pack...I didn't tell her that though.

What would that do other than maybe reduce the chance of an infection? The biggest problem with spider bites is the toxin and not infection. It needs immediate medical treatment if it is a spider bite to reduce the death of tissue.

 

[lovin'fl]

What would that do other than maybe reduce the chance of an infection? The biggest problem with spider bites is the toxin and not infection. It needs immediate medical treatment if it is a spider bite to reduce the death of tissue.

I don't know. read another thread where guys got strong antibiotics and so I told her they might need to give her those. Trying to get her to go to urgent care.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Trying to convince her. Possibly losing her leg was not scary enough. Uggh. Told her they may give her strong antibiotic that she can't drink with...maybe 3 day Z pack. She has plans for Halloween Saturday night so....that seemed to work. I guess they could do 5 day pack...I didn't tell her that though.

I would also be concerned about a clot.

 

[lovin'fl]

This was in MD and that is not a typical state for brown recluses, so that is good.

https://www.verywellhealth.com/brown-recluse-bites-1298284#where-do-brown-recluses-live

 

[Southernmiss]

My mom had a recluse bite below the knee about 25 years ago. Took about a week before she went to the doctor. The tissue around the wound started dying. She was on crutches and told she could lose the leg. They started several hyperbaric chamber treatments which rapidly changed her outlook as the wound started to heal.

She has a scar, but no lasting effects.

 

[MrsPete]

I'm with the majority here: get to the doctor.

My husband had a friend in Karate class -- big guy, huge and strong -- who was bit by a Brown Recluse on his back. He was in a coma for a while, and some of his flesh around the bite "died" /had to be cut away. He ended up with an absess of a sort. I have no idea whether this is a typical reaction, but -- if I thought I'd been bitten by that evil little buggie -- I wouldn't wait to find out. I saw pictures of it sometime after, and it scared me.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

She needs to see a doctor now. If it’s a recluse bite it’s not something that should have a wait & see approach unless confirmed by a doc. And if it’s not a recluse bite, that level of bruising needs to be evaluated.

 

[amcnj]

Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to be a reaction to ignore. My daughter gets severe reactions to many things, including bites. Even mosquito bite reactions are beyond what anyone else I know gets.

She woke up with a similar experience earlier this year, a huge raised discolored area on her leg that was warm to the touch. It too seemed to have three possible bite sites within it. She did go to urgent care and they assumed it was spider bites and she was given antibiotics.

 

[barkley]

MEDICAL CARE NOW!!!! a friend, a healthy/very in shape gentleman put off seeking care for a few days and ended up hospitalized for over a week, almost lost his leg and off work (firefighter) for almost 6 months while he did physical rehab. doctors said the only reason he retained the leg was due to his optimal physical health and conditioning.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

If I saw that first pic I'd be headed to the doctor ASAP because clearly whatever bit is causing a large enough reaction to the body and it wouldn't be something I'd want to play around with.

Hopefully she went to get it checked out.