Wounds and scars
Author: Anders Nielsen | Ctrl-D saves this page
Disclaimer: The images of scars from bites brought here have not been confirmed.
Although the Brown Recluse Spider has a reputation of being a rather docile spider, its bite is nothing to joke with. The reason why is it considered rather docile is that it has been shown that people have lived together with it for years without a single bite.
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Although the photo above look grim, most cases of Brown Recluse Spider bites are not nearly as severe. In the many cases only a dry bite is delivered, and there will basically no side-effects be. However, when the bite is not dry, but wet, and venom is injected, a more likely outcome as below is observed. The human body has a tremendous ability to repair tissue that has been compromised. In this case, a condition called loxoscelism has caused a lot of tissue damage around the wound. The patient in the photo below (not to the right) will have to go through a long healing period. How long time it takes depends on his age and how effective his body is a replacing the dead skin cells with new ones. Wound like these can take up to two years to heal completely. |
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Luckily, relatively mild damage is seen in many cases with bites in adults. However, a search in the literature for the words: "Brown Recluse and bite" reveals that 65 percent of all children must have surgery for their wounds to recover. As their skin is thinner, they are much more exposed to loxoscelism than adults. The lesson from all of this is that even though the danger imposed by Brown Recluse Spider is overestimated, one must take care to avoid close encounters. The article is: Complications and Outcomes of Brown Recluse Spider Bites in Children (Hubbard J & James L) in 2011. |
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