Greetings,

This forum is for discussing any topic related to the Brown Recluse spider.

Discussions about Brown Recluse spider behavior, bite information, prevention tips, Brown Recluse sightings, and your overall experiences with this spider are welcome.

Also, feel free to ask any question about the Brown Recluse spider and we will be happy to provide answers based on our experiences and research.

Thanks,

Tom - Moderator
www.brown-recluse.com

Hi

I think I may have been bitten yesterday. I was cleaning the basement of an empty house. I was vacuuming-up dozens of dead bees (none were alive, I am sure).

About 20 minutes into it, I looked at my right hand and my right ring finger had both end knuckles black and blue, and the rest of the finger was reddening. It was painful, burning, and the joints were stiffened.

I don't have a camera. But does this sound like a brown recluse possibility to you? I was in a newly-developed area 50 miles northwest of Chicago.

Add-on to earlier question:

At the time, because of how dark the black and blue was (almost black), I thought I may have broken a blood vessel and put my finger under cold water to reduce the swelling. But the rest of the finger swelled and got very red and stayed hot, but the pain was reducing. I kept cleaning the walls of the vacant house and putting that hand in cold water. I thought I'd wait and see if it recovered overnight. It seemed to be improving before bed.

But when I woke-up this morning, it was even more swollen than before...especially at the top of the second joint. The whole finger is pretty red now and swollen. But the bruising color is gone and there's no white ring or blister. And there's no burning or pain any more. It's now been about 16 hours since the symptoms started.

And it's not affecting the rest of the hand...only the ring finger is affected.

My eyes are bad for seeing tiny things, so I couldn't tell you if there were/are any bite marks. I never saw any.

I'm healthy and eating well. My immune system should be good.

Does it sound like it could be a brown recluse bite?

Hello Jen,

I've never heard of a Brown Recluse bite causing such a reaction in only 20 minutes. It could be an allergic reaction to something, but I'm not sure what it would be. It doesn't sound like a Brown Recluse bite.

Thanks,

Tom

Follow-up:

Hi, it's Jen again.

Yesterday the swelling and redness went down in my finger and I saw 3 tiny whiteheads at the base of my finger. They were in the shape of an inverse v, 1/4 inch apart. One was starting to peel.

I remembered that I moved a can of paint and drop cloth that had been left overnight at this vacant property, well before I noticed my symptoms. I moved the cloth at about 10am that morning. So that if something bit me then, then it would have been 7 hours before I got the symptoms.

Anyway, the finger is greatly improved. Just a little swelling left and only slight redness at the base of the finger now.

Thanks for being here. It sure was a comfort having the website information to refer to.

Hello Jen,

It sounds like the marks would be too far apart to be a Brown Recluse bite (which are about 1/16" apart), but we're glad to hear that it is improving. Let us know if we can be of any further help.

Thanks,

Tom

I think my son was bitten by one last week. I didn't know it was a spider bite until I started searching the web last night and one of the pictures I saw of a bite looked like my sons bite. So I started searching his bedroom and found a spider behind the bed frame.

Question: 3 years ago, I was bitten twice by a brown recluse spider. The bites were 2 inches apart on my leg at the calf. I had a miserable night with great pain and swelling and red/purple discoloration. Next day my doctor put on a drawing salve to pull out the poison. Two weeks later it began to get better and he said my body adsorbed the poison.

Yesterday, my leg started hurting in the same bite spots with no swelling but a lot of pain. Here is the question...can this be related to the spider bites? I have had no injuries on the leg in 3 years.Where does the remaining poison go? Is there a continuing affect?

Hello Gareth,

Brown Recluse bite wounds are known for returning even after it appears to have completely healed. One possible trigger of the recurrence is a bruise, scratch or other lesion near the previously wounded area. The wound can erupt in the same location as the original bite or in another area. The wounds can recur on a yearly cycle near the time of the year when the original bite occurred.

See http://www.brown-recluse.com/bitephotos.html for a photo of a bite wound in its 10th year of recurrence.

Tom
www.brown-recluse.com

can a bite start out as a water blister