Brown recluse is well, pretty reclusive

This article of the reclusive brown spider, is this the same spider that if bitten, the venom with destroy and continue to destroy your skin tissue up to a year?
Is there another brown spider that does this, if this is not the one. I have a family member inthe military who just recently got bit by a brown spider of some sort and there is no antivenom and they place him on antibiotics for 3 weeks. He is ok now, but the skin surrounding this bite is deteriorating and continues to do so, leaving a dent in his arm. Can you give me some info on this spider. He also was in the midwest areas.

I beleave the hobo which is found out west also can cause that type of reaction.

I was bitten by a brown recluse spider in Arizona when i was eight years old visting a relative. While it was in my sleep – the next morning I awoke to the back of my leg having two large puss sacs and blilsters surronding the bite. I immedialty went to the Dr. and remember him cleaning the bite and the area around it and then had the best tasting medicine for the next two weeks of my life. I can't say for sure if the bite itself was painful but the aftermath was more bothersome and scarry for a 8-year-old than anything else. it was pretty ugly too

Many patients show up claiming to have been bitten by a "brown recluse" but in a decade of practice I am yet to see a real brown recluse envenomation. Most "spider bites" I see in my practice are simple skin boils. Of course these days this means MRSA, but still, nothing to do with spiders. Black widow spiders are very common around here, but I've seen only 2 or 3 envenomations – they are pretty skittish about biting humans.

I live in Michigan and was not a victim of a bite, but was made aware of a man who was bitten by a brown recluse that was in load of limestone that was delivered by a landscaper. The man didn't realize it was a brown recluse bite until his leg swelled to double the size, and then the swelling continued upward (and apparently, internally). When he finally had chest pain and pressure (after the 4th day) he went to the emergency room. Has been on an i.v. antibiotic for three weeks and will continue to do so for another 3-6 months.

My husband was bitten by a brown recluse in our (upstate NY) home about two years ago. The reaction was so bad that the tissue for several inches around the bite started to turn black, and he had a high fever, shaking chills, and nausea. We had no idea what it was. When he finally went to the urgent care center, the doc rounded all the other docs up to come in & take a look because recluse bites are so unusual in the northeast. They put him on antibiotics and sent him to a plastic surgeon because they were expecting tissue around the bite would have to be excised. The plastic surgeon was from the Midwest and told us he used to see recluse bites out there all the time, but this was one of the most impressive ones he had ever seen. He actually took photos!! All the tissue actually recovered, despite medical predictions, and all ended happily, but I personally am much more afraid of spiders than I was before

Vince is correct, the "hobo" spider resembles the brown recluse, lives in the Pacific Northwest and carries venom causes similar infections. One of the possible side-effects of recluse and hobo bites is the tell-tale "deadening" of the skin around the bite. The "dent" that Sandi refers to could last for several years and the infection may recur in other parts of the body.

A former neighbor of mine died due to a brown recluse bite.

I was bitten last year across the street from my apt building here in Waikiki, It was really bad i had my whole right thigh in a fever sort of look...after 3 days i coulnt walk and i had found the 2bite marks.. and for some reason pushed out most of the puss out..but the next day i had black lines going through my leg..and it was throbbing soooo bad that i had to go to the hosital and have surgery to remove the bitten area..it was really hard the area it felt liek a tennis ball size lump..painful to touch..anyways they had to cut it open and i now have a 2inch scar on the back of my thigh from this lovely creature...fyi..when i got bit i was sitting on some rocks.that ive sat on before, many time in fact..this time i had shorts on and just thought i'd scrapped my leg..that all i felt...anyways i'm all good now...just a really frightening exprience..i didnt even mention the part where before the hospital i went to a clinic because i wasa poor college student..and no meds, the p.a just cut into my leg..ouch..anyways he resides at Discovery Bay, Waikiki Side, Honolulu.Hawaii

Don't assume everyone is right when they tell you it's a spider bite. Our family went through 2 years of incorrectly diagnosed "spider bites" to then find out it really was MRSA infections, which can only be diagnosed by doing a culture.

My stepmother was bitten by a brown recluse that had made it's way into her closet and into a pair of pants that had dropped from a hanger onto the floor. She had a nasty bite on her thigh and was required to take antibiotics. So some advice – although they are reclusive, you can run across them. Shake out clothing that has been packed away in a closet or on the floor before you put it on. Use caution when cleaning out areas that have not been disturbed for some time as they can hide out in closets, drawers, etc.

The brown recluse is a special problem when you have a shake roof. This is because the spider especially like silver fish which live on the insulation, under these shingles. . This is one of the most important sources of food for the brown recluse.

First you must have your attic space sprayed. This reduces the food supply. Then you need to have a specialized person spray each room for the spider. ( Every 3 months in spring and summer ) Sticky papers ( like we used for catching flies ) can be placed under the beds– in closets– in storage areas. It is important to spray utility rooms , and where you have placed your air conditioner and your furnace. You will not believe how many spiders are stuck on these papers. You can replace them every 3 months.

As a laboratory person, I can tell you the bite destroys tissue, and makes a cone shaped crater where it bites. The pain is great. Their most active season is April to Sept. ( Mating season ) But you must always protect yourself year round. Carolyn Zell

I was bitten many years ago on the elbow (Eastern Shore of MD), but was unaware at the time. I developed flu-like symptoms, feverish and Was very tired . Eventually incredible pain set in along with swelling in my elbow. I went to the local ER after swelling caused my elbow to become enormous and there were red streaks headed up my arm. I was started on an oral antibiotic, but it did not come close to touching the problem. Soon after I was given pain meds and short-stay IV antibiotic which did nothing, finally someone aspirated the fluid in my elbow. I had developed a staff infection and they decided to operate on the spot. The theory was that I had been bitten 4 times on my elbow by a brown recluse (which I could not see) and the venom went right to the bursa in my elbow, when they operated they found the entire bursa was necrotic and removed it. I continued on oral antibiotics for several months and have fared well without the bursa. I am not fond of spiders.

Il ive in Western Kentucky and work in Southern Illinois. We have brown recluse spiders up the wazoo in this region and I can name MANY people who have been bitten by them and have the scars and deformities to prove it. The bites of these spiders can cause severe ulcering wounds and cause frequent amputations of toes, etc when people have been bitten by spiders in their shoes. Even when you do not have a severe reaction, the wounds can take weeks if not months to completely heal.

My dad was actually bit by a brown recluse in his home in DC about 25 years ago. he was moving chairs in a basement where it was living and bit him on his leg (just below his knee) it was irritated and clearly infect but nothing alarming..Until he had his friend who is a doctor look at it and said he had gangreen and needed medical attentino asap. He almost lost his leg and now, almost 30 years later, still has a indented scar the size of a fist on his leg

Be careful of what you call a spider bite. There is an epidemic of MRSA. MRSA is common in the young school age children, teens and 20 -30 year olds especially those who work out at the gym. Good handwashing,washing of equipment etc is important. MRSA looks like a spider bite and behaves like one unless properly treated.

My neice lived in Arizona about two years ago. She was doing yard cleanup of dead wood and brush and was bitten in two different places on her legs. Within a short time span of that day, she became sick and was taken to the emergency room. The physician told her family that she had been bitten by one or more brown recluse spiders. They gave her some antibiotics and other medications to make her confortable and sent her home. Later that night she had become dilerious and was taken back to the hospital where she died a few days later. I don't know about how reclusive they are when you are working outside. I believe she died because she was a very small woman at 90 pounds and had serious allergies all her life .

Sandi,
That is indeed the bite of a brown recluse spider. They are a common nuisance to military folks who spend time outside in the boondocks, especially in hot, wet regions like army bases tend to be in. The brown recluse may be very rare in your HOUSE, but outdoors, particularly if you are laying in the prone in a trench or foxhole your chances of encountering spiders are much more likely.
I was in the army and saw some guys with similar bites. The actual bite is painless, so you may not know you have been bitten, but after a while the venom dissolves localized tissue and results in a "dent." If not treated quickly, it can get out of hand and infected. The army tries to raise awareness of pests like recluse spiders, ticks, fire ants, and black widows, and even snakes, but there is often failure to bring problems to your chain of command for fear of being labelled a malingerer, weak, or lazy and trying to get out of training, even when one has a legitimate health concern.

I grew up in kansas and my house was always infested with brown recluse during the spring and summer. Seemed like everytime we moved a piece of furniture we'd find one and my father was always killing them. I don't think any of my family was ever bitten though.

tippersma has good advice. Any unusual rash or suspected spider bite should be seen by a doc.

In my case, I am a walking mosquito magnet. Not only that, but I'm allergic to them and get welts the size of a marble with redness spreading 2" out.

Ironically, though, I can usually tell right away if it was a mosq or something else that got me. It just 'feels' different.

In my area, we have had an oubreak this summer of those nasty tree mites that leave painful itchy welts where they get you.

Aren't bugs fun?

We had a patient come in who had been in Missouri and slept on a fold out bed which had been stored for a long while. The spider was living in the folded bedclothes. She had a bite on her abdomen which had become necrotic and when she was seen in our office it was about 6 inches in diameter.

About ten years ago I believe I was bitten by a spider while working in an old barn. My right arm turned black, and I mean very, very black, for the entire length of my forearm and over my elbow while I was nauseous and dizzy within a couple of hours. I received several weeks worth of antibiotics with cortizone shots and cream lotions from the local hospital to treat it. There were two very small holes in the middle of the blackened skin (I have chills running down my neck just thinking about it!) that a team of six doctors tried but couldn't identify. To this day, I still don't have a definitive diagnosis of what it was, but I still have a mark where the bite holes were.

we have a lot of spiders here in the south, I have found it very helpful to spray the foundation and a forty-fifty foot ring around the house with a good quality insect killer, this really gives peace of mind.

I was looking over the health blog and started to laugh when I saw that you had written about spiders. I don't think I'll ever forget about the story of when you killed a spider and 100 or so baby spiders scurried out of the huge smashed spider. Oops! That must have been quite frightening for someone who has arachnophobia. Seriously though, about two years ago, my daughter, Amber, was bitten by a spider on the leg. It was scary to think that she could have been in very serious trouble. She was taken to the ER and treated with antibiotics. The bite basically exploded over and over again, purging itself of the poison. It took about one month for it to heal. She now has just a small reminder scar that takes it's place. And of course more than ever wants nothing to do with spiders.

When I was in grade school, I was bitten on the thigh by a brown recluse. I never saw the spider and didn't know I had been bitten until I couldn't walk because my leg was so swollen. After I couldn't use my leg, and a blister had formed, it took three days to identify the bite - and this was after visiting three doctors. Thirty years later, I still have a very distinct scar. One quick way to identify the bite is that it makes a bullseye mark, with radiating red circles around the bite. Always shake out shoes and br careful in closets – they like to hide in dark places that tend to be undisturbed.

We lived in Indian Wells near Palm springs, California in 1992, I fell asleep at sundown as was my wont in my Barwa chair out by the pool.
So I did not see the spider that bit me although I had been aware that there were brown recluse spiders on our property. In a few hours the five bites in a cluster were very apparent and I began to be in such pain that I had to elevate my leg to get any relief. Here is the stupid part: because I am a health nut, I did not go to a doctor and instead put DMSO on the bites. The skin around the bites deteriorated and wasted away. To this day I can still see tiny indentations where those bites were. I am lucky that they slowly healed and I became OK. Up in nearby Riverside that same summer a woman died from recluse spider bites. So GO TO A MEDIC right away if you get bitten.

I was bit by a brown recluse 5 weeks ago. I still have fever, nausea, chills and other symptoms. Can anyone tell me how long the symptoms lasts?

I got a bite about 10 years ago. I didnt realize it until it started to hurt/itch and feel irritated.
After several days of the sore that wouldnt heal, I went to the Dr. He wasnt certain but said it appeared to be a brown recluse bite. I was put on strong antibiotics and had to return every other day to have the sore measured. The Dr told me that if it expanded beyond a certain size, I would have to have tissue removed. Luckily, that never happened.
I was one of the lucky ones, I guess.