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- Knowledgebase: Child Safety, Injury Prevention and Treatment
- Questions about child safety and injury prevention, as well as treatment for minor injuries.
- 25. I have concerns about spider bites - Top
- Q - I have concerns about spider bites; what should I watch for?
A - The best approach to spider bites is prevention. Most spiders favor warm, dry, dark places such as boxes, trunks and undersides of shelves. If you are careful with these situations, you will reduce your chances of spider bites.
The two major spiders of concern are the Black Widow spider and the Brown Recluse spider. Even with these spiders, most bites do not result in venom injection. These spiders also tend to be why, but will strike out if cornered or surprised. They both have specific reactions, therefore it is usually obvious from the symptoms if you have been bitten. The Black Widow spider bite starts with pain at the bite site followed by severe muscle pain of the extremity involved. This then spreads to generalized severe muscle pain with associated sweating, nausea, vomiting and headache. The Brown Recluse spider bite results in a red spot at the bite site which enlarges slightly, then begins to look like a bruise within hours. Over the first 2 days this develops into a blood blister then becomes a blackened area or ulcer. Obviously if either of these scenarios develops, you should seek medical attention.
The majority of spider bites result in redness and swelling only and this is essentially a reaction (like an allergic reaction) to a non-venomous spider bite. This can be treated with simple elevation and Benadryl.
- Updated: June 5, 2001
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- Knowledgebase: Child Safety, Injury Prevention and Treatment
James L Horwitz, MD
David C. Thomas, MD
Barbara Lindberg, PNP