I cannot believe I am about to post these, but I am! A couple weeks back I was bitten by a brown recluse. Every year about this time, we see a couple of what we know as "house spiders". My husband sprays the house, and we don't see any again until the next year when we "rinse and repeat" :). This year was a little different. I found a brown recluse in the kitchen. My husband argued with me that it wasn't one. I was so thankful for the modern day world wide web...all it took was a few clicks on the computer to show him I was right.
This is what a brown recluse looks like:
Anyway, my husband sprayed that night. After another day or so I woke up to find a dead one in my bed. I'm not sure why, but I didn't freak out. I knew David had sprayed (and it was STRONG stuff) and I figured everything was dying. Fast-forward to the weekend where we spent time at the lake. I noticed a red bump on my hip and showed my sister. For a split second I wondered if it was a spider bite. But, it didn't hurt or itch and didn't look too bad. I have really sensitive skin, so I figured it could be just about anything. A day or two later I noticed the red area was growing. Then a smallish lump formed in the middle. Another day or so and it was starting to throb with pain, until then it never really hurt or itched. At that point I started thinking it might actually be a spider bite, but because of our lack of insurance since the hubs was laid off, I put it off for another day. The next day it hurt SO bad and was black in the middle, I decided it was worth the $$$ to go to Minor Emergency clinic. There they confirmed (because of the black) that it was a bite from a brown recluse. I got a shot, and a prescription for an antibiotic. I was told not to pick at it or mash it, but to apply a hot compress (a hot rag, possibly even heated in the microwave to get it as hot as I could stand and then lay it across the bite and then cover it with saran wrap to hold the heat in) several times a day. My leg continued to throb with pain. I was absolutely paranoid my whole leg was going to rot off. Granted, even though the sore was looking worse, it was NOTHING like some of the awful pictures I had seen online. A day or two after going to the doctor the pain was so bad, and it was even worse when I stood up...all I did that day was lay around and do the hot compress over and over. My husband begged me to let him pick at it but I said "NO!". I finally agreed to let him use a q-tip, not to mash or squeeze, but to try to pull the skin off the really swollen part. It hurt like ****, but I once he did that, a little later the pain did decrease. I expected a lot of stuff to come pouring out, and stuff did drain, but it was really slowly over the course of a few days. All the skin that was swollen and red began to peel (or rot?) off. It still isn't completely healed. I don't even know how long it has been (3 weeks maybe?)...but it isn't "gooey" anymore, nothing is draining anymore, and it doesn't hurt. It's kind of dry and a bit itchy at times.
I took pictures a few days in a row, I don't have any from the very beginning or from the end, but I am totally about to post the few I have. I posted the warning in the title...these are kind of graphic...like I said, not near as bad as other pictures I have seen, but if you have a sensitive stomach, stop reading here :)
I'm not sure if these are in exact order, and yes, you do get to see my pasty, freckle-y hip :) Also, these really do not show the variation in the shades of red, purple, and blue that spread out in rings from the bite (in person it really looked yucky) and it's also hard to tell how swollen it was, but here they are....
Anyway, my husband sprayed that night. After another day or so I woke up to find a dead one in my bed. I'm not sure why, but I didn't freak out. I knew David had sprayed (and it was STRONG stuff) and I figured everything was dying. Fast-forward to the weekend where we spent time at the lake. I noticed a red bump on my hip and showed my sister. For a split second I wondered if it was a spider bite. But, it didn't hurt or itch and didn't look too bad. I have really sensitive skin, so I figured it could be just about anything. A day or two later I noticed the red area was growing. Then a smallish lump formed in the middle. Another day or so and it was starting to throb with pain, until then it never really hurt or itched. At that point I started thinking it might actually be a spider bite, but because of our lack of insurance since the hubs was laid off, I put it off for another day. The next day it hurt SO bad and was black in the middle, I decided it was worth the $$$ to go to Minor Emergency clinic. There they confirmed (because of the black) that it was a bite from a brown recluse. I got a shot, and a prescription for an antibiotic. I was told not to pick at it or mash it, but to apply a hot compress (a hot rag, possibly even heated in the microwave to get it as hot as I could stand and then lay it across the bite and then cover it with saran wrap to hold the heat in) several times a day. My leg continued to throb with pain. I was absolutely paranoid my whole leg was going to rot off. Granted, even though the sore was looking worse, it was NOTHING like some of the awful pictures I had seen online. A day or two after going to the doctor the pain was so bad, and it was even worse when I stood up...all I did that day was lay around and do the hot compress over and over. My husband begged me to let him pick at it but I said "NO!". I finally agreed to let him use a q-tip, not to mash or squeeze, but to try to pull the skin off the really swollen part. It hurt like ****, but I once he did that, a little later the pain did decrease. I expected a lot of stuff to come pouring out, and stuff did drain, but it was really slowly over the course of a few days. All the skin that was swollen and red began to peel (or rot?) off. It still isn't completely healed. I don't even know how long it has been (3 weeks maybe?)...but it isn't "gooey" anymore, nothing is draining anymore, and it doesn't hurt. It's kind of dry and a bit itchy at times.
I took pictures a few days in a row, I don't have any from the very beginning or from the end, but I am totally about to post the few I have. I posted the warning in the title...these are kind of graphic...like I said, not near as bad as other pictures I have seen, but if you have a sensitive stomach, stop reading here :)
I'm not sure if these are in exact order, and yes, you do get to see my pasty, freckle-y hip :) Also, these really do not show the variation in the shades of red, purple, and blue that spread out in rings from the bite (in person it really looked yucky) and it's also hard to tell how swollen it was, but here they are....
