America is the home to 20,000 different types of spiders and out of all 20,000 spiders only 60 have the capability to bite a human being and only 4 are known to be poisonous. The poisonous ones include the brown recluse, black widow, hobo or aggressive house spider, and the yellow sac spider. The brown recluse and black widow are the only two that have ever been linked to the horror of disease and sometimes, but rarely, death and death has only been reported in small children.
Fortunately the brown recluse is not aggressive. He doesn’t seek you out to bite you. He will only bite when he is trapped in your clothing or shoes or if he is in your bed and you roll around on him. That is why it is very important that you keep your clothes and shoes off the floor as most spider bites occur from articles of clothing being put on after picked up off the floor. They also hide in firewood, boxes, closets or any dark, secluded area. Chances are, if you are bit by one or if you see one, there are many more lurking around as they live in large numbers together.
Once bitten, take immediate action. Get yourself to the doctor or hospital. The first few hours are crucial and while there is nothing you can do to get the poison out of your system, there are things you can do to prevent the venom from spreading and causing al to more pain and problems. Immediately cover the area with an antibacterial gel such as Neosporin and then wrap with saran wrap if the location allows you to use Saran Wrap. If not, such as if your bitten on the bum as I was, cover the area with a band aid or gauze. The reason you want to get to the doctor is because he will give you anti inflammatory medications such as Prednisone and a pain killer because even though you may not initially feel pain, in a few hours you may be in excruciating pain. It all depends on the severity of the bite and the size of the recluse and typically, the females are the worse.
If there are reasons you can not get to the doctor:
·. Repeat every hour.
· In between icepack treatments, keep the area with ointment and covered.
· DO NOT allow any heat on the area. DO NOT take a hot bath. This will rapidly spread the venom.
·. Apply the clay paste and then ice on top of the clay.
·. Mega doses of Vitamin C will also help detoxify your body. Emergence’ packs are good to drink all day. You can find these boxed packs at Kroger or Walmart
· The brown recluse bite emergency kit is a lifesaver! Keep this in your medicine cabinet for not only spider bites but wasp stings. Make sure to read the ingredients, very impressive. I feel this is a very important, necessary kit to have if you live in an area that inhabits brown recluse spiders.
You will need to follow up with your doctor. Typically the venom kills cells and regardless of the best care you have done, your skin tissue will begin to die. This is called necrosis. The doctor will need to check it and may need to remove the dead skin and you may need to be given antibiotics. Antibiotics won’t help with the spreading of poison but will help prevent infection. You may also need to follow up with a wound specialist if you have a lot of dead tissue and if the sore remains open and painful.
DO NOT allow surgery to occur on your bite until at least 3 weeks have passed. I had surgery after 2 weeks and then was told by a wound specialist, Dr. Thomas Kraven (EXCELLENT Wound Specialist at Presbyterian hospital in Plano, TX.) that it takes 3 weeks for brown recluse venom to leave the body. I had pointless surgery and the poison popped all my stitches out as it continued to eat my flesh and kill tissue.
To avoid being bitten a second time, make sure to keep your house exterminated and keep ALL clothes and shoes off of the floor. Wear gloves if your digging around in firewood, storage areas or any secluded area.
