10 Natural Remedies for Spider Bites

I'd learned about high voltage, low amperage DC current from an article that had come out in 1986 in Outdoor Life I think it was. We'd bought the issue because we'd had so many goats, cats, and dogs snake bitten.

In 1989 I was bitten by a recluse on the calf, and used meat tenderizer and charcoal for the first 5 days. I'd packed the growing hole with one, leave it in for hours, then wash it out and pack it with the other. The thing that had me scared was that it was doing everything the book said it would do, not only a hole 1/4" deep and 3/8" across, but a hot red raised area 3" across with a starlike effect of redder lines within it. I called a fellow who'd worked at Uchi Pines doing alternative medicine, to ask if I really needed to shock it, and he said it sounded that way. We grounded one side of the bite with a screwdriver from the woven wire fence, then ran a wire from the electrified top wire to the other side, using insulated pliers to hold it. I ran the shocks through the bite area, and it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared. The shocks ran only in that small area, more like a little bite than having my whole body shocked. 24 hours later the hole had obviously not grown any more, and in another 12 hours the hot red raised area was nearly normal. The whole thing just faded away, leaving me with a small blue scar.
In 1991 I noticed two little red marks on a knuckle and thought the same thing I'd thought the first time, "Those are just far enough apart to be spider fang marks." Six days went by, and I woke up to a little brown oozy hole in the middle of each pink mark. There was a PT working across the street, so I called and asked if she'd run electrostim on them. She said come on over, and told me that she used to use ultrasound and Betadine on such bites, but as I insisted on electrostim, she flipped a switch and did all 3 at once. The wounds closed up that afternoon.

The next time it happened, it was like some people describe the bites, I got a black spot on my ankle that looked just like someone had dropped silver nitrate on it. It was perfectly even with the surrounding skin, and painless till after about 5 days the surface peeled off. Within a few hours it was really hurting so I used the electrodes from a "Beck Box" on either side, for about 10 minutes. The thing didn't bother me for a week, then it started hurting again, I ran the box longer and hotter and it went away after that. The secretary at the office where I'd borrowed the box used it twice when she had brown recluse bites. We have a Hulda Clark Zapper, but I don't think the voltage is high enough on it. It was not like my other bites, but was equally slow and was working it's way down through the layers.

Then my husband got bitten on the arm and he used his electroacupuncture gadget, grounding on one side of the bite and zapping on the other. A friend got bitten, had the classic nasty brown oozy wound on her leg, and as she had a TENS unit we simply put the pads on either side of the bite and turned it on blast for about 15 minutes. I forget how I treated the last two bites I got, they occurred about a week apart and I didn't let them got very far.
I introduced my chiropractor to the notion of treating recluse bites with his electrostim machine. I had a friend who'd been bitten 3X and had learned to use clay poultices morning and evening to heal them, but then she got a bite on her neck and after 6 days of poultices woke up to swollen glands in her neck and was scared. So that was the first one my DC got to use his machine on, and that was the end of the problem for her.

The one horror story I have witnessed was a friend who went to the dr the same day she was bitten, got on the antibiotics but they didn't do a thing. Her arm swelled up double, and when I heard about it 6 days later, I called immediately and told her to rush over to a DC who would use his electrostim on it. It had eaten a strip on her upper arm an inch wide, 5" long and about 1/8" deep. The wound stopped growing and healed up. She has a horrible scar, but it would certainly kept on eating to the bone had it not been stopped. There are 400 people where she works, they all know about what happened to her and believe me, they and all their friends and relatives will be going to a DC instead of an MD for TX.

The PT who did my 2nd bite told me about a guy who'd been bitten in a very delicate place. The MD's had nothing to offer except to cut out the bite area, which was not in a place where he thought he had anything to spare. The PT, on hearing his story, showed him how to use her machine and had him tow it to the restroom every time he came in for his other tx. She said it saved his marriage. (She also told me about saving her dog which had been snake bitten on a holiday weekend, she applied a TENS unit after he'd suffered for a couple of hours, in 20 minutes he was up dragging it around and wagging his tail. We just use Vit C for animals with snake bite, but we do have a TENS unit just in case. )

I talked with a nurse who works in a wound center, and she was astonished that I know about all these bite cases in which none of their debridement and other medical treatments were necessary. In fact, I was surprised to see that some people do know about the shock treatment. See http://en.allexperts.com/q/General-Surgery-2076/Brown-Recluse-Spider-Bites.htm which also mentions that the venom is "heat labile, calcium dependent, and optimally active at a pH of 7.1." They approved of a home remedy of hot and cold applications.

When I read all the things people have done for what they think are recluse bites, I have several thoughts. First of all, some of them were not recluse bites. I've been bitten my more kinds of bugs than most modern Americans. One thing that will show up in most recluse bites is a stage where there are two small holes, before they grow together and become one large hole. For a day or so after they combine, the hole is often square looking rather than round. Second, some actual recluse bites just got better, because of where the bites were, the person's good circulation and the assistance of salt to draw out toxins, of turmeric to reduce inflammation so the circulation could get in, etc. For example, an old man told me about how his little sister had developed a hole in her leg that ate all the way to the bone. In desperation, their dr had had their mother rip up and old sheet and fill little squares with Epsoms salts. When one was saturated, she pulled it out and stuffed another one in. That healed up the wound, which we can now guess was an early recluse bite. I don't think they were nearly as common before central heating. In my own case, salt and proteoplytic enzymes (in the meat tenderizer) and charcoal did not stop the progression of the bite. The next thing that would have happened to me was the big hot red area would have been undermined and collapsed. Only the electricity stopped it. I talked with a physiology professor about this, and he had two stories, people he knew personally who had stopped snakebite damage with electric shocks. He said that the proteolytic enzymes involved are very large complex molecules, positively charged at one end and negatively charged at the other end. When exposed to high voltage, low amperage current the ends are pulled in opposite directions and the enzymes are torn apart.

One last thing regarding infections being mistaken for spider bites. Anything that will draw out toxins via high osmotic pressure, such as salt or Epsoms salts, will also draw out the toxins from an infection. So those approaches are not contraindicated for MRSA. And if you will dig around a bit, you will find that Bob Beck invented his little box because of an accidental discovery that electrical current stopped bacterial growth in a petri dish. This info has been suppressed, but Bob Beck has put his invention into the public domain and does not sell the boxes so that he can tell people about it. You can find the plans and the boxes and the info online. And for flesh eating bacteria, they are using proteolytic enzymes that are surely similar to those used by recluse spiders and pit vipers, so electroshock may work on those cases too.

WARNING!

I think I have been bitten by a recluse, I am trying to determine if it is a spider bite, or MRDA. After reading about the spider bites on this site: http://www.emedicinehealth.com/spider_bite_brown_recluse_spider_bite/page6_em.htm

It says not to: Do not apply electricity to the area. Anecdotal reports of high voltage electrotherapy from common stun guns have never been shown to be effective in any scientific studies. This can also cause secondary burns and deepen tissue destruction.

Just a thought.

I was recently bitten on the thigh by what I presume to have been a spider (sudden burning ouch - not a boil), and when it started to rapidly gain size and swell on day 3, I checked your site for ideas. I live in Australia, so not a Brown Recluse, but we do have something called a White Tail Spider which I think is somewhat similar. Ironically I live in the bush, but was bitten in a cake shop in town.

I tried the following, in order:-

Potato slices. Felt great, very soothing, but no lasting effect. If I had a child with a non-poisonous wasp sting or ant bite or something similar I think this would cheer them up heaps.

Baking Soda moistened with Cider Vinegar as a poultice. I did this twice and it definitely took the redness out somewhat, but only for a limited time. The area of the swelling was now the size of a bread and butter plate and red with a white outer edge. The centre was the size of a bantam egg, raised again and very red. The two fang holes started to get a squarish, shiny, slightly bruise like sunken area immediately around them and then I started to worry. I planned a trip to the doctor if it were not looking better at the end of day 4.

The electric stimulation thing sounded good, but I wasn't sure how I would go about it. I read Serena's comments (see this page) about the Plantain (Plantago major, also known here as Ribwort), and as I had once cured a horse of Greasy Heel with it decades ago I thought it might be worth a try. On day 4 I happened to be weeding in a paddock with the Plantain growing, so every hour or so I picked a leaf, mashed it up in my fingers and smeared the moist mush across the bite area. At the end I squeezed the last few drops onto the central very red area for good measure. I suppose I had in mind to do the whole thing with the poultice when I came in that evening; I think I was a bit "over" having a spider bite by then and just wanted to get a days work in.

By lunch time it was looking significantly better, much less angry and less painful. Maybe the Plantain, maybe I was just getting over it anyway, I thought. So I stopped putting the Plantain juice on, and to my surprise the bite quite quickly started inflaming again. This effect was dramatic, not just something I maybe felt; my husband could see it too. So I kept on with the Plantain juice.

By day 5 it looked significantly better, but it became obvious that each time I stopped the Plantain treatment the central very red area "leaked" more poison out which then inflamed the larger area again. (You could see it "running" to the inside of my thigh). So I concentrated my juice application on that central area around the bite, and that did the trick. The very centre, which had looked ready to ulcerate, never did, just forming a few tiny scabs. It is now 2 weeks later and I still have a bruise-like mark where the egg sized central area was, but the problem is over. I only had to do the Plantain juice for 3 days, doing it fewer times per day as things improved.

If it had even begun to ulcerate I would have used Hydrogen Peroxide, and probably gone to the doctor too.

I know my plants, so I knew what Plantago major was. (It is a common weed fairly world-wide, although maybe not in the tropics). Make sure you get the right thing; ask someone knowledgeable if you are not sure. It has parallel veining in the leaves - that is, all the veins start together at the base (stem end) of each leaf blade, they all continue parallel along the leaf, (hence "ribwort"), then they all squeeze together again to form the tip of the leaf. The leaves grow in a "bunch" or rosette from a single base, and the "flowers" are fawny brown speckled cream long ovals, one on the top of each thin stem. Do not confuse this with the Banana family Plantain. Again, please ask if you are in any way not sure; you could be putting the juice of something onto yourself that could be FAR worse than the spider bite.

I was willing to experiment with my bite because I was pretty well certain that it was not a poisonous kill-em-stone dead type spider. My husband and I between us have been bitten by Red Backs, Wolf Spiders and Huntsmen, and this was substantially different. Anything as big as a Funnel Web I would have found squashed in my jeans, so that sort of eliminated the two "rush to hospital" jobs. (Obviously also I was still alive at the end of day 1). Use commonsense folks!

By the way: for the horse with the Greasy Heel I used poultices of the mushed up leaf bandaged onto his pasterns. Two days did the trick. Plantain seems like a great herb to me, but I have never read anything much about it. Anyone know any more?

Does the DC current kills only bad bacteria in the body or it will kill both bad and good bacteria in the body? I understand that a healthy adult has about 85 % good bacteria and 15 % bad bacteria in the body.

Best wishes P. Raghavan.

Vitamin C for Insect Bites and Allergies: I had a spider bite once that swelled on my forearm like a half-egg under the skin. I took 3-4G of ascorbic acid, the cheap Vitamin C from Sams club, about once every hour and a half or so. By dark the swelling was down to maybe 10%. I continued overnight and all day the next day. During that time, while in the yard working, I felt something on my arm. I looked down to see a "fireant" biting feverishly the back of my hand. I assumed there must be something wrong with him as I didn't feel any burning. Another one bit me later with the same results. I only noticed a feeling like something was crawling on me. The wounds never swelled, turned red or itched! It must have been the massive doses of C circulating in my blood.

I estimated I consumed about 40 grams of C over a 24hr period. Normally that much C will give you severe diarrhea and gas! I had neither.

I also take it for severe allergy flareups with great and quick relief, though only last for 2-4 hours, depending on the intensity of the allergen.

I do know of two remedies that work if you've been biten by a spider or insect and its caused swelling and redness and pain mix some tumeric and olive oil into a paste and apply it on the infected area and it will draw out the venom and reduce the swelling and relieve the pain. This has to be done several times over 7 days. You leave it on and repeat it 2-3 times throughout 7 days and it will be an improvement.

A personal friend of mine hsa used Vodka three different times, poured liberally, and often, when she was bitten by the Brown Recluse spider. She says when Vodka is used, after about 3 months you can't even see the bite, and it never swells or gets exceptionally red. I have not used this myself, as I haven't been bitten, but I do trust this friend who has, and it's good to spread the word. I suppose soaking it in Vodka would help, if it's on your hand or foot.

I was bitten by a redback spider on my left knee on very early Wednesday morning between 1 am & 6 am. Swelling started Wednesday about 10 am.(very painful) By Thursday morning my knee was like a balloon. The swelling started to go down my leg & by Thursday afternoon the swelling was down to the bottom of my calf. The pain was sssooo intense I wanted to cut my leg off. I took the oils at 6 pm Friday. By 6 am the swelling was down 20% I took more at 6 pm Sat. & more at 6.30 pm Sat. The swelling was completely gone by Thursday Then the following Sunday swelling started again so I took more oils only once & the swelling went down that day & never a problem again. All I have is a 20 cent coin size of dimpled skin were I was biten. 1 year later a friend of mine was biten in Lismore N.S.W. about 3 day prior to my remedy treatment. It fixed her straight away like me. No side effects it has been 9 years now.

Snake Root applied neat cured weeping and spreading spider (suspected brown recluse) bites. My friend was bitten a few times on his legs and each one became very puss filled and wept... started spreading and was very painful... put snake root on and immediately the bite areas started healing and within two weeks they were gone.