Treating Venomous Spider Bites to Reduce Long-term Complications

Jul 25, 2011
Albert Burchsted

Yellow sac Spider - Joseph Berger

Venomous spider bites can cause severe damage. But there are gentle methods to reduce both the pain and length of time to be endured.

Spiders do not normally bite people because, unlike their relatives ticks and mites, spiders do not feed on humans. But if a person disturbs a spider or threatens it in some way, it may bite. While most spider bites are painless or cause mild to moderate discomfort, some Southwestern tarantulas may produce symptoms similar to a wasp sting. These symptoms are usually transient. If they persist or are debilitating, medical attention should be sought immediately. Any person known to be allergic to bee or wasp stings should seek immediate medical care if they experience similar response to a spider bite. However, a physician may not recognize a spider bite with low intensity symptoms because they have been trained to diagnose and treat the bites of venomous spiders. Thus, it is best to bring the spider or a photograph when seeking medical assistance.

Which Spiders are Venomous

In the United States and Canada, there are four resident species groups of spiders that can inject enough venom to cause serious damage: widows, brown (Latrodectus geometricus) and black (Latrodectus mactans); brown (Loxosceles reclusa) and three other recluses; hobo (Tegenaria agrestis); and two yellow sac (Chieracanthium mildei and C. inclusum) spiders. Bites from these spiders may produce massive inflammation, discomfort, and skin ulcerations that may take several weeks or even months to heal.

Of the four groups, the widows are the most dangerous and known to deliver fatal bites. Persons who recover from the bite of a widow spider may experience severe permanent muscle loss or even loss of use of one or more limbs. The recluse group is next with the brown recluse being the most dangerous of its genus. This is followed closely by the bite of the hobo spider. Bites from both the brown recluse and the hobo spiders (as well as the widows) result in severe pain, inflammation, long term ulceration of the skin, necrosis of muscle tissues, and high risk of secondary infections through bacterial entry via the skin ulceration. Victims may also experience digestive disorders, flu-like symptoms, disorientation, severe headaches, fevers, and a sense of general malaise - all of which may continue for several weeks or months. Symptoms similar to the recluse and hobo bites are evoked by the yellow sac spiders, but the symptoms are usually less severe and last only one to three weeks.

Most people bitten by widows, recluses, and hobo spiders normally do not feel the initial bite, and may not know for some hours that they have been bitten. Most people bitten by a yellow sac spider feel a wasp-like stinging that increases for one or two days before diminishing over one to three weeks.

First Aid

Appropriate first aid treatment for any spider bite is to apply ice packs to reduce swelling and pain. Keep the patient as quiet and comfortable as possible. If the spider is seen and can be captured without endangering anyone, it should be captured (dead or alive), photographed, and brought with the patient to the doctor or physicians assistant for identification. If the spider is killed, care should be taken that it is not squashed beyond recognition. Before leaving to seek medical assistance, medical personnel should be alerted of a probable spider bite with complications.

Medical Treatment

For simple bites without tissue necrosis, dressing the wound regularly and using a topical antibiotic to prevent infection is usual. If mild swelling and and discomfort occur, use of anti-inflammatory pain killers such as asprin and ibuprofin are common.

Situations with intense reddening, swelling, heat, a hard core, ulceration, and intense pain require rapid medical intervention as this type of bite may result in deep, encapsulated abscessing of tissues. In 1983 , treatment consisted of corticosteroids, antibiotics, antihistamines, and surgical excision. Since then, treatment has been modified to include corticosteroids, dapsone (a leprosy drug), high doses of vitamin C, and nitroglycerine patches.

The possibility that methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria may be found on the spider's fangs is a concern and many spider bite cases are rapidly sent to the operating room to remove the lesion and surrounding tissues before these bacteria have a chance to become systemic and refractive to treatment. In some cases where the tissues are refractive to healing, a surgeon may elect to remove the damaged tissues to reduce the spread of venom from the injection site, but surgery does not always reduce the severity of the injury or the time for healing; Surgery, combined with the inability of the surrounding tissue to heal because of the digestive enzymes in the spider's saliva, may cause a greater loss of muscle and connective tissues that results in a permanent cavity in the organ affected. Since testing for MRSA takes longer than the bacterium develops, many surgeries are provided where MRSA is absent, and the patient is disfigured needlessly.

Holistic Treatment

People who work with spiders or experience repeated bites find that holistic remedies often help to alleviate symptoms and reduce an extremely uncomfortable bite to tolerable levels.Some of these are:

Garlic cloves pressed into or onto the bite site.
Large doses of antioxidants.
Huge doses of vitamin C.
A poultice of Bentonite clay with or without the addition of extracts of aloe vera, jewelweed, Japanese knotweed, epsom salts, and/or ginger.
Activated charcoal with or without baking soda.
Hydrogen peroxide.
Stimulation with DC electric current.

Since these treatments have not been subject to double blind clinical studies, most physicians and physicians assistants are either not aware of or refuse to acknowledge their possible effectiveness and offer (sometimes less effective) treatments approved by the American Medical Association, Food and Drug Administration, and their parent medical associations. Thus, persons wishing to use alternative treatments may wish to be treated by a holistic practitioner.

Disclaimer

The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her health should contact a doctor for advice.