I think I got bitten by a spider while sleeping last night. You can see a small bump where the actual bite must've happened, then the area around it is a bit red and hard to the touch (about the size of a Canadian loonie), its also a bit itchy. The most common spiders in my home are the jumping spiders and the yellow sac spiders, so they're rather harmless.. just wondering how do you treat a spider bite? I can't recall ever being bitten before so I'm not sure if I need to do anything.

Anti itch cream and keeping it clean are the best solutions I know of, as long as there is no allergic reaction. Not all that many spiders are biting spiders in North America, so at least it limits what the options are. If it was a common house spider, it will be gone within a couple of weeks. Don't scratch it or press hard on it.

If the swelling increases or if a large discolored circle about the size of a silver dollar (about an inch and a half across) appears, see a doctor.

All I have that I can put on it is Bactine, its been taking away the itch pretty good.

I'm thinking it was the the yellow sac spider that got me, it's nocturnal (I was bitten during the night), the bumps where I presume the fangs went in look too far apart to be the jumping spider (they're much smaller spiders), not to mention I've seen one on my bed while I was in it and the other day one was dangling about 2 feet away from my head, again while I was in bed.

Umm.. Dissy, I found some rather interesting reading on your "harmless" yellow sac spider that you may want to go over.. not to freak you out.. but the yellow sac is related to the Hobo and the Brown Recluse

I got a nasty bite from one of these bugers... gave me such a nasty bite that took MONTHS to heal.. and I still have a lovely scar because the damn thing bit me in the middle of a tattoo.. and the ink pulled out)



Be careful with it hon.. keep an eye on it, keep it clean..and keep us up to date on it..K?

EEK! Keep an eye on that bite. We've been terribly infested with Brown Recluses since last years' hurricane season. they start out looking much like your bite, but soon spread and start to rot.

As advised, if it starts to increase in size or become feverish to touch, get to a doctor.

Don't be fooled by a jumping spiders either. Those lil guys can give one heck of a bite. Though they don't usually cause a lot of damage, if happen to be in select group as I am, they will make you hallucinate. It wouldn't be so bad if I could just remember a little bit of what I said, I only remember getting tired and going to bed.

These spiders you have, sounds a bit like our white tail spiders. They bite and start to ulcerate. The sores from these spider bites are nasty.

There was been new reports that the white tails dont cause ulcers, but I have seen too many people with the sores on tv, in the papers and met people with the actual ulcers from the spider bite. I think the government are now saying that the white tail dont cause the injuries, as they dont want mass hysteria and people going around exterminating the white tail. anyway too late for that, us women been eradicating spiders for centuries.

For spider bites, for a child or you are elderly of have heart problems see a doc. With a redback spider, you know if you been bitten, feels like a cigeratte has been put out on you. I use a dissolveable asprin. You wet the asprin, place on the bite and place bandaid over the asprin to keep in place. The asprin is a anti-inflammatory.

With other bites and you see a sore, place a little honey, that you know that hasnt been cooked. A lot of honey now is treated with heat as it has mites in it from the hives.
Best honey to use is Jarrah honey, Aussie or a Manuka Honey, New Zealand. You may have to hunt around a bit for these honey's.

Both the Honies have medicenial properties. I use the jarrah honey all the time.

Also ice on the spider bite, do not leave the ice on for more then five minutes at a time, so ice for 5 leave off for two minutes, reapply ice. do this up to an hour, or two.

Also a antihistamine also helps reduce the swelling and also lessens the pain site.

If you get a reaction from the spider bite, dont mess around, go and get medical help straight away.

We don't have those spiders here, outtie.

The most dangerous poison biting spider in the USA is the Brown Recluse, and I have been bitten by one before. Not a nice experience.

They are worse than black widows?

Update on my bite, the swelling is pretty much gone, its still red where the actual bite is and the area around it looks like a faint bruise, still a bit itchy..just hoping its going away and I don't get one of those nasty wounds.

Good dissy. It sounds like it is healing in a normal and good fashion. And yes, the Brown Recluse can be far worse than a Black Widow.

The tissue near where the recluse bites dies and almost never completely heals again. From what I have been told, I will have discoloration there for the rest of ny life.

Of course, with either, it depends on how much venom and and how reactive you are to it. If you die, I don't think it matters which kind of spider bite is really worse.

Dissy
For your information, the black widow is related to the redback spider.

~~
Outtie

Hey I live in saskatoon some little bastard keeps biting me in my sleep, the get bit red and swollen but not any significant puncture wound the area gets red hard and swollen and also makes my leg muscles hurt to move around too much , I took some Life brand benedryl and its working ok, but the thing is Ive slept in my new house for 2 nights and both nights I've been bitten. I know that a spider randomly biting you is quite rare but for a serial incident scares me, do i have some sort of over aggressive house spider, what could it be?

It sounds like fumigating your house would be a good idea. There are some aerosol cans you can use that are quite effective. You have to leave the house for several hours, then come back and run around really fast and open doors and windows, then let it air out before coming back.

You may not have a spider problem, but there is pbviously some kind of bug that needs to be outed. Could be bed bugs? OOOOh. Did the prior occupant have dogs? Some people have a flea alergy.

Yes you need to fumigate, with a professional service of course, or perhaps just vacuum and clean the whole room, and totally strip the bed. If you vacuum him up or make his home unpleasant, then perhaps he will leave. Are you sure its a spider and not a flea or something else?

The off-the shelf fumigation stuff works just a well and is a heck of lot cheaper. But, if you are the type that runs their fresh fruit through the dishwasher to get all the pesticides off, use the "professional service". In either case, stay out of the house until the gas has been thoroughly flushed out.

Oh, and don't forget to take your pets with you--especially us birds.

Many years ago I woke up with a spider bite on my ankle. It was painful and swollen. I looked around for a spider, found nothing and assumed it was nothing to be concerned about as I felt okay. Three hours later I was taken to hospital by ambulance with hallucinations.

Because I did not know what had bitten me, I was treated for the worst kind of bite from spiders in the area ... the Redback.

The biggest problem with spider bites, other then their venom, is bacterial infection, just like a dog or cat bite. The bites become infected, often causing ulceration.

Best to see a doctor.