As we near towards winter, bites from Brown Recluse spiders will increase as they move into homes where the climate is warmer.  These spiders reside in places with regular human movement, but they are not usually aggressive.  They are known to bite when they feel threatened or trapped.  Often bites occur when the spider is trapped between a piece of clothing and the human body.  It is believed that they enjoy human dwellings because their nocturnal lifestyle benefits from artificial light.

Brown Recluse Spider Bites Are Extremely Dangerous

Brown Recluse spider venom contains at least 9 distinct poisons, similar to rattlesnake venom.  It affects blood vessels in the bite area to potentially cause massive tissue destruction.  The result can be horrific.  A bite that is left untreated may require an amputation of the limb, and can lead to death.  The bites cause kidney failure in some people.

Avoiding Brown Recluse Bites

Since bites often occur whilst people are sleeping, it is not always possible to avoid them.   We recommend that bedding be fully checked before going to sleep, and that clothing be violently shaken before it is worn.  These little devils love the insides of shoes, so beat your shoes together, and inspect inside of them before wearing them.  Keep all clothing dresser drawers tightly closed, because they'll hide in the underwear too.  We normally recommend against the use of chemicals (especially poisons), but it is wise to spray a long-lasting insecticide around windows and doors in the autumn.  Please take all precautions, including wearing splash resistant goggles, and a respirator, if you do.

How To Know If You Have Been Bitten

Unfortunately, a Brown Recluse victim is not always aware that he has been bitten; at least not immediately, when treatments would be the most beneficial.  Sometimes the bites immediately cause extreme pain, and in other cases, there is no sensation at all.   There may be visible fang pits at the bite site, but this is not always true either.  Sometimes there is itching at the bite site, or a generalized fever.  The general rule is that there are no general rules for Brown Recluse spider bites in the early stage.  Therefore, some victims do not realize that they have been bitten for several days.

Between one and three days after being bitten, an untreated Brown Recluse spider bite is likely to form one or more blisters.  The bite site may become bluish colored at this time, and it may begin forming a crater.

Seeking Emergency Medical Care

Some people will opt to rush to the hospital when they realize that they have been bitten.  A Brown Recluse spider bite could easily be considered an emergency condition, so a hospital visit is a wise decision.  Be forewarned that there is very little that conventional medicine can do to stop the regional damage that is caused by a bite from one of these little monsters.  Doctors typically give antibiotics and antihistamines in the hope that the long term damage can be somewhat minimized.  These are truly desperate measures, which yield very little sucess.  If you follow a doctor's prescribed after care regimin, then we recommend that you also follow our treatment recommendations, if it is at all possible.

Self Treatment - Stage 1

If you have been bitten by this spider (or any other spider), the first thing that you should do is apply activated charcoal directly to the wound.  This is something that should always be kept in the medicine cabinet for poison emergencies.  You can find it inside capsules sold at health food stores, or you can buy it in the aquarium department of a grocery store.  Either way, the charcoal must be finely ground before it is used.  Apply a thick paste to the bite area that is made from the fine charcoal powder and water.  Tape the charcoal and water mixture to your bite, and reapply whenever it becomes dry.

We also recommend orally consuming a teaspoon of charcoal powder in water, in the manner described in the above link, in order to get a tiny amount of charcoal into the blood.  There is a chance it will help, and it will definitely reduce your overall toxic burden for about 24 hours.  Again, read the above link about proper activated charcoal use, or proceed at your own risk.

It is best to have this made ahead of time for any poison emergency, and the sooner it is applied, the better.

	Six days after Brown Recluse bite.  Click to enlarge.

Self Treatment - Stage 2

After a few days, the charcoal will no longer be useful.  Purchase bentonite clay powder from a health food store, and mix it with just enough water to form a paste.  Apply this paste to the wound, and cover it.  Refresh every few hours.  Topical bentonite clay has yielded some amazing results for people who have experienced brown recluse bites.  Internal use of bentonite clay is not advised.  Take massive amounts of echinacea supplements until the bite wound has completely disappeared.  Echinacea was used by the native Americans to heal snake bites, which is believed to be where the term "Snake Oil" originated.  Reports seem to indicate that echinacea is also very effective for dealing with venomous spiders.  For best results, mix a small amount of echinacea with the bentonite clay powder.  We expect for the clay to typically remain useful for about a week, but every bite will be different.  Continue the echinacea for a couple of weeks.

Brown Recluse Spider bites usually take 6-8 weeks to heal, but this treatment method should speed the process dramatically, and reduce suffering in the meantime.  Hopefully it will help victims eliminate, or at least reduce the crater scars that these spider bites have become infamous for causing.