Brown Recluse spider bite.

[rookieshooter]

Well it's been a couple years after being bitten by one of these bad boys which has venom stronger then a rattlesnake.
And it's producing more bad results. Good thing is I found something just within hours that is greatly helping, more on this later.
I've posted once before about this episode. But I'll refresh the story for those that never heard of it.
It will be three years ago this coming April when I was sitting in a pile of rotten wood during the Spring Turkey hunting season. It was really rainy that spring and very warm.
Perfect for spiders and especially favorable to the brown recluse.
I was wearing a loose fitting jacket and felt something on my skin on top of my left shoulder. I smashed it and never thought no more about it until I got home and my shoulder started to itch like I have never had any thing else ever itch. Took of shirt and noticed a dead Brown Recluse, not good.
Went to doctor who gave me weeks of medication. Which is probably why I did not get the rotten skin thing.
but the bite area stayed hot to the touch for around 30 days with the skin falling off about the diameter of an orange but did not start getting rotten like others have suffered.
During this time I could not even raise my arm it was so weak. I lost so much muscle mass that my left arm looked like the pics you've seen of prisoner of war in WW2. Spent months going to therapy, a few visits to a neurosurgeon and orthopedic surgeon who said that it looked like the venom attacked the tendons and were partially dissolved . I went to therapy 3x a week for months trying to rebuild my muscle. It was so bad at first I was unable to lift my left arm from my side.
Well about a year ago with my arm getting much better I noticed sever joint pain in shoulder. This led to me taking way too much Ibuprofen which resulted in stomach problem which led to an operation.
Well, now I've just been living with the pain which about every day I get a pain as if someone is sticking a hot nail directly below where I got bit.
The pain is so bad that I can not even lift arm to get seat belt on.
Now for the good news, I was reading about how magnets have been used to treat certain forms of arthritis. Hmm what do I have to lose?
So I went to my garage where I have several really strong round flat magnets. Their about 2" in dia.
I taped one on directly over where the bite was. Low and behold within minutes the pain subsided. Never did it go away that fast. It's been about 6 hours and the pain is all but gone. Was even able to reach up with left arm and grab the seat belt where as before I would have to reach across with my right arm. I know it's only been hours, but WOW!

Also tonight I just found out about the secondary effect of the venom which has to do with inflammation which said could be worse then the original destruction of flesh. Which I would rather go through all that then this never ending pain.
Below is the link describing the effects of the venom and possible inflammation issues.
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/spide...e/page2_em.htm



Hey, if this works, I'll be taping magnets to the back of my left knee which over 20 years ago had reconstructed surgery which arthritis has set in and may even make some gloves with magnets ha ha. Can hardly bend fingers in the morning. But what does work for hands is a combination of hot and cold water treatments. It actually pumps more blood through hand by the shrinking and expanding of the blood capillaries or veins?

[Joe Dirt]

Wow- what a story...

Try amazingmagnets.com for some nice rare earth magnets- super hard pull, not much size!

[rookieshooter]

Originally Posted by Joe Dirt

Wow- what a story...

Try amazingmagnets.com for some nice rare earth magnets- super hard pull, not much size!

Great site Dr J Dirt. I'm still amazed by the results. What I've read is the magnets help in flowing the blood.
I'm serious about this and if it continues to help then I'll be ordering some of those. Looks like the right size to fit on top of gloves and behind knee

The shoulder for the first time actually feels nice and warm now in that spot.

[TexasArmadillo]

Good to hear amigo. All though I must admit I sped read the posting and originally read maggots. I did a double take when u said u had some large ones in the garage. I am happy to see u are using magnets not maggots.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

[rookieshooter]

Originally Posted by TexasArmadillo

Good to hear amigo. All though I must admit I sped read the posting and originally read maggots. I did a double take when u said u had some large ones in the garage. I am happy to see u are using magnets not maggots.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

Wanna hear something gross. Had a friend of a friend that got bitten by the same type spider and doctors took spoonfuls of rotten skin and meat out of the effected area and then sent him on a plane to another state for the maggot treatment.
But the stink from his own flesh was so bad that people on the plane got up and moved. Now that's bad.
The problem is when Gangrene sets in.
Being an avid hunter I always thought it would have been a Timber Rattler or Copperhead that would get me. And I've seen my share of them, but never have killed one. In fact an episode of the guy from Australia who died a few years back was filmed surrounded by the Timber Rattlesnakes not all that far from where I live. He said he's never been around so many venomous snakes in his life. He was near a den of them.
I have a thing that if I do go out of my way to kill one...look out, pay back time.

[TexasArmadillo]

I remember that Steve Irwin episode.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

[Rick]

One of my best friends died from complications of a brown recluse bite. He was bit in the scrotum while sleeping

He didn't have insurance. The first hospital he went to turned him away saying it wasn't an emergency. He went to a county hospital and died from blood poisoning within a couple days. Horrible, horrible thing

Sure glad you're doing ok.

[2TimingTom]

yeah, those spiders are nasty. We had a couple in my house in KS. Once we found that, we started up a contract with Orkin and that kept them under control. The Orkin guy we had said that he got bit by several brown recluses over the years and he would just immediately dig the little pocket of poison out with a knife.

[Turdle]

Little bastages! Got me Saturday I believe. This is last night view

Funny thing, the bite is painless. It started like a bad mosquito bite-by the time he got the second one in ( lower right) he was out of juice.

I think I got it while moving a piece of plywood over a large window to protect it while mowing the yard.

[LONO100]

glad to hear your flesh didnt fall off or worse. after hearing stories and seeing gruesome videos of violin spider bites, i think would rather get bit by a rattlesnake.

[rookieshooter]

Nasty looking for sure. Gone to the Dr yet or are you the hard headed kind?
When I got bit I went the next day to Dr and was given a general kind of Anti biotec medication. And I think that is why I only lost only the first to second layer of sking. The size on my shoulder skin that fell off was about the size of an orange. The problem now is the acute inflamation in my left shoulder which is the secondary and sometimes worse then the primary infection. Not a night goes by that I do not toss and turn to find a positon that the left shoulder is not in pain.

To bad you did'nt think quick enough and just take a meat clever and whack that finger off!

Good news is that you weren't taking a pee next to the plywood
Or we might just see a record beating thread...Brown Recluse bites my Hootus


Keep us posted.

[Turdle]

Originally Posted by rookieshooter

Nasty looking for sure. Gone to the Dr yet or are you the hard headed kind?
When I got bit I went the next day to Dr and was given a general kind of Anti biotec medication. And I think that is why I only lost only the first to second layer of sking. The size on my shoulder skin that fell off was about the size of an orange. The problem now is the acute inflamation in my left shoulder which is the secondary and sometimes worse then the primary infection. Not a night goes by that I do not toss and turn to find a positon that the left shoulder is not in pain.

To bad you did'nt think quick enough and just take a meat clever and whack that finger off!

Good news is that you weren't taking a pee next to the plywood
Or we might just see a record beating thread...Brown Recluse bites my Hootus


Keep us posted.

I think I might have gotten lucky, although it was a few days ago. I went to the doc yesterday, he sliced it open and got me on a antibiotic --I am soaking it every few hours in hot water with green soap and keeping it taped up and wet with the green soap stuff. My knuckle still works-

[rookieshooter]

How's it going?
Hope 9 is not the highest number you can count on your fingers

[Turdle]

Originally Posted by rookieshooter

How's it going?
Hope 9 is not the highest number you can count on your fingers

Doing pretty good here, I didn't get it as bad as yours. I have a hole on top of my knuckle, but I can still bend it which is good.

Pat McManus said a manure pile worm is lazy and fat compared to a worm you dig out of the dirt, and the latter was best for fishing.
I bet the same is true for spiders. I got bit by a city spider it would seem. Yours was a good ol boy who had to work for his food, and you were a meal.


I Mainly posted as a back up to yours. These spiders are something to be wary of.

How is your wound? Were you able to find a source for the magnetic devices??

[Tbars4]

..I stumbled across this slide show and thought it would fit perfect here..

Brown Recluse Vs. Black Widow (see who wins) and some other cool pics and info..

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/slide...article_em.htm

The following 6 slides contain severe case images. If you are sensitive to images of this nature you can skip these slides by clicking on the link below.

[rookieshooter]

Great info on both the Brown and Black spiders. In your link it mentions that not all Brown Recluse bites go the extreme that was graphically shown. I think that the fact that I got medical help very quick was an important factor that it progressed only to loosing the first layer of skin.
But it is ironic that you posted it. Just two days ago I mentioned to my Orthopedic Dr while on visit to him to treat a large Bakers cyst behind my left knee, that I need to make an appointment to look at shoulder again. BTW he is one of three Doctors that treated me for that bite. Reason being that I still can not lay or lean on the area where I was bitten. It's the secondary problem with these bites that the joint directly below the bite may become severely arthritic. I read on one site that this is sometimes more problematic then the skin infected area. As far as pain in the joint it has even gotten worse.
So now about that Bakers cyst that will be addressed before any shoulder work.
Supposedly this Sat, I'm going in for a MRI for what he said is a larger Bakers cyst. He said he wants to see what's causing it rather then just to drain it. Most likely after the MRI he will go into the back of the knee with a camera and same time take out the problem. So this will be my 3rd knee operation. I'm just not ready for a Hover Around lol. The other two were done decades ago. Then after the knee problem that is when the shoulder issue will take place.

[Tbars4]

...Hopefully all turns out well...

I'm just not ready for a Hover Around lol.

.....I can see moddin' a Hoveround in the future...

Rascalstien - YouTube