Brown Recluse Spiders

We just got home from visiting my BIL in hospital. He woke up in the night and his knee was swollen and extremely painful.

He was bitten by something, but no one can determine what. We are wondering about BR spiders. We know they are up in the north. We have seen documented cases up here

Anyway, the infection is going up his leg toward his hip. He is on IV antibiotics and hot packs. Poor guy is in a lot of pain. He is getting pain meds also.

Just wondering if anyone out there has any experience with these bites?

Yep - and spent six months on antibiotics. I had a spot of necrotic tissue on my arm the size of a 50-cent piece which took forever (about two years) to go away.

I've never been bitten by one thankfully, but I do have some experience with them. One of the most identifying traits of a brown recluse bite is necrotic tissue. Its venom causes flesh to die. If that's not happening, it's probably not a brown recluse bite. If it is, here's some info that might be helpful.

BRS bite info

I've had two brown recluse bites in the past (The South has quite a few of those pesky little arachnids). Bites are NOT pleasant and can be downright aweful if left unattended. He did the right thing by getting treatment.

Be sure that your brother-in-law does NOT put heat on any suspected spider bite areas- heat can actually cause the venom to spread and accelerate necrosis to the tissue. If he needs some relief, icing the bite area and keeping it elevated will help out a lot. If he thinks he got bit at his home, it's a good idea for him to have a pest company come out and check things over and spray. Was he by chance able to actually bring in the spider that bit him? That can be really help the doctor make the right diagnois.

This website might be helpful: http://www.emedicinehealth.com/spide...article_em.htm

They aren't even sure it was a BRS bite, it was something tho we thought should be considered.

He doesn't know when he was bit or by what. The funny thing is they have his leg wrapped up in hot towels. My DH and I thought that was strange. They want his blood vessels to be open? Dont make much sense to me.

I am going to check those sites. I know that it is flesh eating bacteria, I am not sure how long it takes to start eating the flesh. UGH!

Boy, you never know. You go to bed one night, and the next in the hospital with IVs sticking into you.

Thanks for the responses.

Originally Posted by farleyv

I am going to check those sites. I know that it is flesh eating bacteria, I am not sure how long it takes to start eating the flesh. UGH!

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If you mean the venom, there's no fleshing eating bacteria in that - the venom doesn't "eat" anything either. It simply causes tissue to die.

Necrotizing fasciitis is caused by bacteria that everyone has on their skin - most commonly it's staph. This can get in from any sort of wound, even insect bites. My father is currently dealing with a bad staph infection on his arm because he had a small bug bite weeks ago and didn't listen to me then when I said it looked like he had a staph infection. It's fairly large now. Frankly, this is worse than a recluse bite IMO.

We are hoping it is not a brown recluse spider bite. Sending healing prayers to him.

Eek, hope its not a BR bite!

A friend of mine got bitten by a spider on his lower leg, and it spread up to his knee leaving a nasty looking rash that was terribly itchy and painful. They doctors never could figure out what kind of spider did it, so they treated it like a BR bite. It's slowly getting better, but he's had some pain in his leg for months now.