Is This a Spider Bite?

Spepper

Spepper

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I didn't know how this would rate on the squeamish scale, and since this is a family-friendly forum I decided to post a link to the picture instead of posting it right in here. It basically looks like the world's grossest pimple, if you want an idea before clicking the link, haha.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/114543195@N07/15282712405/

This is on someone I know's leg. Is it a spider bite? If so, does anyone know what kind bit her? She came to me wanting to know, but since I have no experience being bit by spiders whatsoever, I couldn't answer her questions. She says it doesn't hurt much, and she actually didn't notice it until someone noticed it and asked her what that was on her leg. Thanks guys. :)
 
The Snark

The Snark

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Can't see a thing. How about a picture that isn't limited to flcker members?
A significant non painful lesion, eruption or boil is a flaming bright red danger sign. If it can't be reduced by antiseptic means in 48 hours a trip to a doc is in order, Septicemia is always lurking around the corner.
 
Spepper

Spepper

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't boils simply caused by infected wounds? Could it originally be from a spider bite? Or is it not spider-caused at all? (Untreated cut etc)

---------- Post added 09-18-2014 at 05:18 PM ----------

Never mind. I found this old thread. Sounds exactly like what she has, and I'm convinced Pitbulllady has it right. :) (You too Snark, with the boil comment)

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?86181-Spider-bite....
 
ratluvr76

ratluvr76

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I've gotten sores like this that were simply an infected hair, other times I've gotten staph infections that started like this. I don't know, it could be a spider bite but no way of really telling. If she's really concerned, or if the redness spreads or starts traveling up or down from it, if she starts running fever, feels nauseous, or extreme pain then go to the doctor. I'd say clean it well with an antibacterial soap such as dial or hibicleans, put some beta dine on it and bandage it up. Repeat the process twice a day until it's better.
 
The Snark

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Boils and skin eruptions are always caused by an excess of wombats. Let the slaughter begin!

Well, why not? A dermatologist associate/friend, a very fun person I enjoyed taking out to dinner just to listen to her, once bemoaned the trials of the skin doc. Roughly, there are about 15,000 causes of boils and skin eruptions. 1/3 finds it's cause internally as in hormones and allergies and 2/3rd in something got into your skin.
With that many possibilities, you can't rule out wombats!

Anyway, let's clear up a few misnomers and flugs here. The most common cause of externally caused skin eruptions is one of the numerous off brands of staph bacteria invading a pore. Got it? Bacteria and hole in skin. You've got a few trillion of those holes and the selection of wandering staph goodies per square inch of the air and every surface on the world is a little too numerous to count.

That is of course the external causes. The internal... well, what do you expect when a portion of modern human diet comes from the fun loving folks at Monsanto and other highly health oriented chemical manufacturers.

To set another record straight. I WASHED WITH ANTIBACTERIAL SOAP!! Yes? And I'm pretty good at riding a horse. They both are about the same in relevance to getting rid of bacteria. Antiseptic kills SOME bacteria and retards their growth.
Compare to a surgeon prepping for an operation. Sink. Crack open the sterile Betadyne scrub pack. Take the povidone iodine impregnated scrub brush. Wet arms to the elbow. Note the clock. Scrub every part of skin from elbow out vigorously for 15 minutes. Done properly, you will kill 99.9% of the bacteria on your skin. Note, the scrubbing with a brush is MANDATORY. Betadyne only kills the bacteria it cones into firm molecular contact with.

PS Nothing has yet been found more effective than povidone iodine at killing bacteria without causing damage to body cells and you better believe they have tried and tested more than a few chemicals. Don't fall for the sales pitch BS and flashy labels in the pharmacy section. You dragged your maimed body into the ER, we grab the betadyne and a scrub brush.
 
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Spepper

Spepper

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Thanks guys, we'll keep an eye on it. :) I'm pretty sure it's not much to worry about now, but we'll keep an eye on it to be sure.
 
ratluvr76

ratluvr76

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The Snark said:
Boils and skin eruptions are always caused by an excess of wombats. Let the slaughter begin!

Well, why not? A dermatologist associate/friend, a very fun person I enjoyed taking out to dinner just to listen to her, once bemoaned the trials of the skin doc. Roughly, there are about 15,000 causes of boils and skin eruptions. 1/3 finds it's cause internally as in hormones and allergies and 2/3rd in something got into your skin.
With that many possibilities, you can't rule out wombats!

Anyway, let's clear up a few misnomers and flugs here. The most common cause of externally caused skin eruptions is one of the numerous off brands of staph bacteria invading a pore. Got it? Bacteria and hole in skin. You've got a few trillion of those holes and the selection of wandering staph goodies per square inch of the air and every surface on the world is a little too numerous to count.

That is of course the external causes. The internal... well, what do you expect when a portion of modern human diet comes from the fun loving folks at Monsanto and other highly health oriented chemical manufacturers.

To set another record straight. I WASHED WITH ANTIBACTERIAL SOAP!! Yes? And I'm pretty good at riding a horse. They both are about the same in relevance to getting rid of bacteria. Antiseptic kills SOME bacteria and retards their growth.
Compare to a surgeon prepping for an operation. Sink. Crack open the sterile Betadyne scrub pack. Take the povidone iodine impregnated scrub brush. Wet arms to the elbow. Note the clock. Scrub every part of skin from elbow out vigorously for 15 minutes. Done properly, you will kill 99.9% of the bacteria on your skin. Note, the scrubbing with a brush is MANDATORY. Betadyne only kills the bacteria it cones into firm molecular contact with.

PS Nothing has yet been found more effective than povidone iodine at killing bacteria without causing damage to body cells and you better believe they have tried and tested more than a few chemicals. Don't fall for the sales pitch BS and flashy labels in the pharmacy section. You dragged your maimed body into the ER, we grab the betadyne and a scrub brush.
Click to expand...
I'm an in home, live in care giver for an elderly Multiple Sclerosis patient that is wheelchair/bed bound. When I came to work for her she had been battling bed sores for about 15 years. They would clear up, then they'd come back. I worked for her for a full year without being able to clear the bed sores on her bottom up. So, we started a new thing. First I would cleanse with a cleanser called "Sea-clense" (sp?) which we'd already been using. I would gently scrub the dead skin off with a gauze sponge. Once that was done and dry we would spray betadine solution on the wound and dab that off with another gauze pad, then, because she has a sensitivity to diaper rash ointments, we use vaseline to protect the area. It took about 3 weeks to heal the sores and now the only time we have a problem is when we have problems with her catheter leaking, and we are unable to change her clothing quick enough. Then she will have small break downs in her skin condition which we are able to clear up rather quickly, usually within a day or two, three at the most IF we use betadine. Without the betadine we are unable to clear it up.

I don't know what about it works for her, I know that it's not been "proven" effective in clinical trials etc, but for her, and in my experience, most minor skin abrasions are effectively treated with betadine.

:)
 
The Snark

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ratluvr76 said:
I don't know what about it works for her, I know that it's not been "proven" effective in clinical trials etc, but for her, and in my experience, most minor skin abrasions are effectively treated with betadine. :)
Click to expand...
I'm not sure where the facts have come from as it not being proven. Betadyne, povidine iodine, is the front line weapon of choice in nearly all hospitals world wide. The only antisepsis competitor is chlorhexidine which is proven to damage cell walls in higher concentrations. (That sure seems counter-intuitive - protecting damaged cells with a substance that damages cells) Really, the bottom line is Betadyne use has bailed out physicians and hospitals from countless negligence lawsuits. IE, the recognized most stringent possible infection prevention measure was undertaken.

I wish I could offer some sage advice regarding sit sores, compression vascular constriction. It is a sad fact of life it seems. A friend of mine, wheel chair bound but a very physically active person ends up doing a month or two in the hospital for sit sore infections every other year. His wife nearly bathes him in Betadyne. Often so much so her hands are stained orange. While the sores will almost invariably happen, keeping them from infection as you have been is exactly the way to go. I assume you have researched anti adhesion and healing stimulation dressings and ointments as the honey, sugar, and silver based products?
 
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ratluvr76

ratluvr76

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The Snark said:
I'm not sure where the facts have come from as it not being proven. Betadyne, povidine iodine, is the front line weapon of choice in nearly all hospitals world wide. The only antisepsis competitor is chlorhexidine which is proven to damage cell walls in higher concentrations. (That sure seems counter-intuitive - protecting damaged cells with a substance that damages cells) Really, the bottom line is Betadyne use has bailed out physicians and hospitals from countless negligence lawsuits. IE, the recognized most stringent possible infection prevention measure was undertaken.

I wish I could offer some sage advice regarding sit sores, compression vascular constriction. It is a sad fact of life it seems. A friend of mine, wheel chair bound but a very physically active person ends up doing a month or two in the hospital for sit sore infections every other year. His wife nearly bathes him in Betadyne. Often so much so her hands are stained orange. While the sores will almost invariably happen, keeping them from infection as you have been is exactly the way to go.
Click to expand...
I also do deep tissue massage in the problem prone areas, as long as there's not an active sore, I massage the area about 5 minutes a day. I think it improves blood flow and she sleeps on her side half of the night to get off of the area. I get her up and roll her back on her back mid way through the night every night too.
 
Spepper

Spepper

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Messages
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Thanks Smokehound, but we don't have fire ants where I live. :/

Today the extended red circle around the white center has been "drawn in" and its more red near the middle. The center has collapsed a bit and isn't so white, and just around that part its kind of raw (that's where its reddest.) Sorry, my description probably isn't the best... this isn't something I describe every day. LOL
 
pitbulllady

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My money is on a boil caused by an ingrown hair, and a lot of women suffer these on their legs because most women shave their legs. I'm with Snark-on a disgusting scale of 1-10, this doesn't even rank as a 1. I had a boil that reached nearly two inches in diameter and contained a spiral hair over three inches long that had been growing in there for who knows how long many years ago, and of course my doctor at the time was certain that it was a "Brown Recluse bite" and wanted to excise a huge chunk of my leg as a "last resort" to complete amputation. Needless to way, I sought a second opinion, and that doctor simply casually lanced the thing, drained it and revealed the real culprit, which was removed. The cavity healed on its own with daily Betadine and topical antibiotic application. No spiders were ever involved. Had I listened to the first doctor, I would have been facing surgery, skin grafts, etc. and still wound up with a nasty scar.

pitbulllady
 
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