I’m writing this blog to share pictures of the spider bite on the middle finger of my right hand and what I did to heal. I am the first to admit that I am no expert in this area and I am simply sharing my personal story and what I decided was best for me and my body.
I did see a doctor and he said he suspected it was a bite from a white-tailed spider. A local naturopath and a pharmacist also said it looked like a bite from a white-tailed spider (independently of each other).
It got infected and then “grew” into two large new infections, possibly multiple spider bites? I don’t recall being bitten but did have a bad day where it felt like I had been “gluten-ed” – aching all over, stiff neck, wiped out and bad night’s sleep. Maybe it was the result of the bite?
There is also the possibility swimming and snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef contributed to the infection. It was covered but water may have gotten inside the dressing. I was also away from home for a week and living in an environment with a fair bit of second-hand smoke and that may have lowered my immunity too.
I did end up having a tetanus shot per the doctor’s recommendation. I had to make a quick decision because the next day I was heading to a farm for 3 days. Upon reflection I doubt it would have made any difference. I hadn’t had a tetanus shot for over 30 years so now I am all set for the next 30 years.
I opted for no antibiotics but did have a prescription in case they grew bigger. I decided to use what I’ve used for boils in the past – cleaning them with tea-tree oil and lavender essential oil and using castor oil and manuka honey topically, together with tons of immune-boosting and natural anti-bacterial products. These included: oregano oil, garlic and colloidal silver as natural antibiotics; and all this for immune boosting: extra zinc, extra vitamin C, extra vitamin D, and Echinacea.
This picture (above) was taken July 6 and was the first picture I took because before then it looked like a slightly infected scratch. I started to clean it daily with lavender and tea tree essential oil and kept it covered with a nice big smear of raw Manuka honey and castor oil (castor oil on the gauze first with honey on top of it).
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By July 9 the one bite had “morphed” into three and they were looking pretty nasty (as you can see in the above 2 pictures). I wouldn’t say I was overly anxious, but I did have a few moments of worry about whether what I was doing was going to be enough. I was watching and hoping it wasn’t going to spread beyond my finger.
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By July 10 and 11 (these 2 pictures above) they were looking very red and I could tell I was really fighting an infection. I continued to watch carefully to make sure it stayed local.
And then a day later, July 12, the 3 bites were looking less inflamed and I could tell they were starting to heal nicely. I continued to clean them as above and use Manuka honey/castor oil daily, plus all the nutrients.
This is what they looked like by July 16 – the initial bite has healed, and the 2nd and 3rd bites are starting to heal.
Around July 19 I did feet out of sorts for a good week. I had no pain but my finger was still swollen and I had low energy and a foggy brain.
I started to use this – Quin’s Healing Ointment – topically during this last week, always keeping the bites covered. It’s a formulation from a local herbalist Sue Quin and I like that it has manuka honey and calendula, together with zinc. Symphytum/comfrey also helps with wound healing.
Here you can see all 3 bites nicely healed with new pink skin underneath. This picture was taken yesterday. I’ll start using Helichrysum essential oil (for additional skin healing) together with lavender essential oil in a carrier like coconut oil. I’m going to use lavender because I’m not fond of the Helichrysum aroma and because lavender is healing too (and my favorite essential oil!).
As I mentioned, this is not my area of expertise, but I’ve had enough interest and many requests to share. Documenting it all also helps me if I ever have to go through something like this again – because I’ll hopefully know what to expect.
When I first shared about my spider bite in my newsletter, I was very touched by all the wonderful caring emails – thank you so much for your kind thoughts and tips for me. You are just wonderful!
If you did email me with your healing tips (I read all the emails) please feel free to post them here in the comments.
And even if you didn’t email me but have your own healing tips about what has worked for you do post them too. We can all learn from each other.
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I put a link below to an article on a salt water bacteria.
https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/31-fla-infected-bacteria-salt-water-8C11379013
C
Thanks for sharing – it’s quite scary to think that it could have turned out like this very sad story. This article mentions “vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. If the bacteria get into the bloodstream, they provoke symptoms including fever and chills.” I had none of these symptoms and was very aware I needed to watch for these and go right back to the doctor if needed.
In retrospect I should have had a culture done to determine the bacteria. This paper is about marine infections in Western Australia waters and says “Marine infections are often polymicrobial, with Staphylococcus aureus and Vibrio species being the most commonly isolated in our cases.” https://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2017/december/marine-infections-study/
I had no idea about infections from coral until after I had gone snorkeling and started reading up (like this article https://www.reliasmedia.com/articles/67684-the-chief-resident-presenting-with-a-coral-cut-injury-infections-from-the-sea ). I do feel there needs to be more awareness created. So these may not even be spider bites or maybe they were bites and were made worse by bacteria in the ocean.
I have been fighting Lyme disease and I am EMF-sensitive and know my immune system has been compromised by this.
I’m so glad you’re healing nicely! Spider bites are scary but it’s great you could avoid antibiotics and treat naturally.
Tricia
Thanks (and thanks for the email too). It was slow and steady healing and being smart about what my body was telling me. I have been using this same healing approach for 4 boils over the last 4 years and it worked well then so I felt very comfortable using this same approach in this instance.
As you know, I have been fighting Lyme disease and I am EMF-sensitive and I know my immune system has been compromised. I’m sure this played a role with these bites and the boils too.
Trudy, Spider Bites can be pretty scary. I was bitten two separate times on each foot. I never did find out where he was hiding. As soon as my foot started to swell, I did a poultice of dried Calendula, Comfrey and clay. It worked wonders. It draws out any infection and reduced the swelling. There are many different items that you can use to make a poultice for anything from bites, burns, splinters to sprains. It is an ancient remedy that has been forgotten….or should I say “removed” by big pharma.
Trudy, a couple of years ago I also had a spider bite, possibly a brown recluse, which began going necrotic within a few days. I also didn’t know I had been bit, until doing a lot of research on the web. What worked very well for me was a daily (24hrs/day) poultice of 50/50 activated charcoal powder and ground flax, with enough water stirred in to thicken to a thick spread. Spread it on the wound area, covered w/ plastic wrap (not a favorite, but needed to keep the poultice damp), and covered with athletic bandage wrap – just to keep the poultice in place. Within a day or 2 of using the poultice, it was healing nicely, and you cannot tell where it was. We use that charcoal/flax poultice technique often now for anything suspected of toxins. Also, the flax puts Omega 3s on the wound area, and also helps in the healing process.