Treatment of Spider Bites

One may have heard of arms being amputated due to spider bites. But is amputation the common spider treatment? People who are victims of spider bites need not have an amputation or any form of surgery, especially when the spider bite is kept from infection and dealt with early.

To apply any spider bite treatment, one must first identify spider bites. If the bites are not caused by spiders, then the spider bite treatment may not be the treatment needed for the bites. To identify spider bites, one may compare pictures of spider bites. The typical spider bite is the one which looks like a “bull’s eye”, in which there is a small puncture wound or blister at the center, surrounded by a swollen red circle, and then bounded by a blanched pale area. This is accompanied by other spider bite symptoms such as pain, itchiness, vomiting, and chills.

If one suspects a spider bite, one should find a spider bite photo (from the Internet) and compare the bite on the skin and the spider bite on the photo. Once a person is sure that he has a spider bite, then he can proceed to the spider bite treatment.

The spider bite treatment is not created to address a specific spider bite. That is, there is no special spider bite treatment for the spider bite of the tarantula nor for the spider bite of the northwestern brown spider. A spider bite treatment does not really lessen the degree of poison injected by the spider through the fangs. But the spider bite treatment is all about preventing infection and soothing the spider bite symptoms.

To prevent infection, the first step of the spider bite treatment is to thoroughly clean the puncture wound. One should not touch the sider bite with dirty hands. And, if one has held a hairy spider, like the tarantula, one should also thoroughly wash the hands. What is most important is that the spider bite should be kept clean and free from invading microorganisms.

The second step of spider bite treatment is addressed towards the spider bite symptoms. If there is extreme itching and swelling, one may consider a soothing salve. If one is experiencing fever, the body temperature should be brought down.

If the spider bite is caused by a large spider, such as the wolf spider, then one should also treat the torn skin. And if the spider bite is caused by the much-feared brown recluse spider, then antibiotic ointments must be applied on the spider bite.

If the spider bite is ignored and left untreated, then infection will surely set in. The lymph nodes will be swollen and, in extreme cases, the tissue, where the spider bite is located, is destroyed. Such a condition is called “necrotic arachnidism”. Severe necrosis due spider bites may necessitate surgery.

This implies that a person should never ignore any bites on his skin, especially the spider bites. Spider bite treatment should be immediately applied. And if the puncture wound does not seem to heal, then a doctor must be consulted.