Identifying a spider bite

Video: Is It A Spider Bite Or Something Else?

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Part 1 of 2: Identifying common spider bites
Part 2 of 2: Differentiating bites from other insects
Tips
Warning

There are thousands of spider species in the US, but most of them have fangs that are either too short or too weak to pierce human skin. If you are bitten by a spider, you have little chance of having a deadly reaction: Only three deaths a year in the US are attributed to spider bites. But spider bites can hurt and sometimes lead to systemic reactions due to their venom. The two most dangerous species in the US are the black widow and the brown recluse spider. If you can distinguish their bites from the bites of other spiders and insects, you can estimate their severity and decide whether to seek medical attention or not.

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Part 1 of 2: Identifying common spider bites

Look for a wound with two bites of teeth. A black widow bite often hurts immediately and can be distinguished from other spider and insect bites by the two teeth bites left on the skin. While it doesn't hurt at times, a black widow's bite is at least moderately painful because the spider has long, sharp fangs. The wound with two bites of teeth then turns red, becomes infected and forms a lump. The sensitivity of the wound increases with time and spreads within the hour.
- Look out for more serious side effects such as severe muscle cramps (especially in the abdominal area), excessive sweating around the bite, nausea, headache, delirium, chills and high blood pressure. These are all responses to the spider's neurotoxic venom.
- Anti-poison can be administered if the black widow's bite is very painful and causes symptoms. It is injected into the thigh or given intravenously by a doctor, but the antidote can cause serious allergic reactions that are worse than the symptoms caused by the poison.
- For identification purposes, the black widow is shiny, round and has a red diamond (or hourglass shape) on her underbelly. In the US, this spider is common in the Southern and Western states.
Look for a bull's eye bite wound. A brown recluse's bite is usually painless or causes light stings that resemble a mosquito bite. Within 30-60 minutes, however, the bite turns red and inflamed with a central wound known as a "bull's eye injury". Redness and intense pain develop within eight hours as the central wound widens, fills with blood, breaks open and leaves a very soft sore. At this stage, a dark blue or purple color often forms around the bite, often with a red ring around it. One should only seek medical attention if an ulcer develops that lasts longer than a few weeks.
- In most cases the ulcer heals with a crust that falls off in a few weeks, but sometimes it can take several months for the wound to heal completely if the victim's immune system is not very strong, which is often the case in children and the elderly people.
- There is no antidote to help control the effects of a tarantula's bite. Her poison is classified as necrotic, which means that the poison kills the surrounding tissue, turning it black or blue.
- You take care of the wound by cleaning it with mild soapy water. Apply cold compresses and elevate the affected area to reduce pain and inflammation. If necessary, take painkillers (acetaminophen) or anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen) that are available without a prescription.
- For identification purposes: violin spiders are brownish or yellowish in color. They have long spider legs and a body with a head and an oval abdominal area. You can find them in dark, quiet places in the Southern and Midwestern states.
Look for hairs that look like needles in your skin. While tarantulas are probably one of the scariest of spiders, the species found in the Americas are not poisonous and rarely bite. But when they feel threatened, these tarantulas throw or shed black hair that resembles needles. The hairs remain on the skin and cause an allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) including rash, swelling and difficulty breathing, especially in sensitive people. The pain in the beginning is often described as stabbing.
- Sensitive people are often owners who often hold their tarantula.
- Tarantula species from Africa and the Middle East do not have needle-like hairs, but they are more aggressive and produce poison.
Identify other spider bites. Black widow and violin spider bites are the most identifiable bites because they contain the strongest venom that makes symptoms worse. But other spider bites are more common and can also lead to pain and swelling. The field funnel spider, for example, is a fast spider with yellow marks on its brown back. He injects neurotoxic venom when biting that kills the surrounding skin, but not in the same amount as the venom of the brown recluse spider.
- Bites from field funnel spiders and roadside bag spiders cause discomfort and wounds resembling bee or wasp bites, although the pain is much less severe at first because the fangs of these spiders are not nearly as long or strong as those of bees / wasps
- To identify what kind of spider bite you have, catch the spider or take a picture of it with your phone to show it to the local hospital (where someone can identify it) or look it up online. Most spider bites are harmless or cause only minor discomfort that lasts for a few days.
- Spider bites can usually be cured with disinfectant, ice, and over-the-counter medicines.
- In general, spiders only bite when they feel threatened, especially if they are squashed between your skin and something else.

Part 2 of 2: Differentiating bites from other insects

Remember that many bug bites are more painful than spider bites. Spider bites are often incorrectly perceived as more dangerous because patients believe that spiders can do more harm than they actually do. For example, insects such as bees and wasps use sturdy stings to cause skin wounds, which do much more damage in the beginning than the tiny canines of spiders. A bee leaves its stinger in the skin and dies shortly afterwards, while wasps (hornets and German wasps) can sting you repeatedly.
- Reactions to bee and wasp stings can range from small skin swellings and redness (like a small bruise) to severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) in sensitive people. Medical assistance may be required here. Bees and wasps do not inject venom, but kill more people annually than spiders through anaphylaxis that are not taken care of.
- Anaphylaxis is usually controlled by injections of adrenaline that decreases the body's allergic response. This injection can be given by your doctor or at home if you have an adrenaline pen.
- The types of spider bites most often confused with bee or wasp stings are those of field funnel spiders and bush bag spiders. Black widow bites can produce similar severe symptoms, but the two canine bite wound does not resemble a bee or wasp sting.
Watch out for sore scorpion stings. While scorpions have pincers similar to crabs, they sting their tails instead of pinching or biting. Scorpion stings are usually painful and cause localized redness and inflammation, but they are rarely serious. Usually you do not need medical attention. However, the bark scorpion can deliver a potentially lethal sting because it produces a powerful neurotoxic venom.
- Although a scorpion's sting is very different from the black widow's two-hole wound, the pain and other symptoms can be similar as both species produce a neurotoxic venom.
- An antidote (Anascorp) exists, but it is not widely used in the US as the mortality rate is low.
- As with most spider bites, most scorpion bites can be treated with disinfection, ice, and over the counter medicines.
- The bark scorpion can be found in Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of California.
Don't confuse tick bites with spider bites. Tick bites are sometimes confused with brown recluse bites (and vice versa) because they can also cause a skin reaction similar to a bull's eye. Some ticks such as deer ticks can carry Lyme disease, so you shouldn't take their bites lightly. A bite from a tick carrying Lyme disease is symptomatic of a rash in concentric rings that may appear up to a month later, fever, fatigue, headache, and muscle and joint pain.
- The main difference from a brown recluse bite is that tick bites do not initially hurt and never cause ulceration (necrosis) of the surrounding skin.
- Another difference is that ticks usually attach to the skin before infecting the guest, so you can sometimes see yourself under the epidermis. Spiders, on the other hand, do not settle in humans.

Tips

To avoid spider bites, wear long-sleeved T-shirts, hats, mittens, and bones when clearing out garages, basements, attics, and dark crawl spaces. Don't forget to close the sleeves at the wrists and tuck them in the mittens, as well as tuck your pants into your stockings to minimize insect access.
Always inspect gardening gloves, bones, and clothes that have been left outside for a while. Shake them well before putting them on.
Spraying bug spray on clothes and shoes can deter spiders.
If you get a painful spider bite and there is no medical attention, put ice on the wound immediately. Then disinfect the wound so that it does not get infected.
Due to the thousands of spider species in the world, you should be careful when traveling abroad, especially to countries in South America, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia. Other potentially dangerous spiders in the world are the comb spider, also known as the banana spider, the funnel spider, the red-headed mouse spider and the red-backed spider.