Brown recluse bites are known for being very painful and for causing illness and scarring in the bite area. Although death is very rare, many victims may wish they were dead. While rushing to the hospital is the most obvious solution, it may not always be an option. What should you do if that's not an option?
Seeking Emergency Medical Care
A brown recluse spider bite could easily be considered an emergency condition, so a hospital visit may be essential to ensure that the victim is stabilized. Be forewarned that there is very little that orthodox medicine can do to stop the regional damage that is caused by a bite. Doctors typically give antibiotics and anti-histamines in the hope that regionalized damage can be somewhat minimized. These are truly desperate measures that yield very little success. Therefore, we recommend that you follow our alternative treatment recommendations.
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. 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 the bite, and leave for four hours. Using it again, or for longer periods is unlikely to help.
Take massive amounts of echinacea supplements until the bite wound completely disappears. Echinacea was used by the American Indians to heal snake bites, which is believed to be where the term “snake oil” originated. Some reports indicate that echinacea is very effective for treating venomous spider bites.
Self Treatment – Stage 2
After the first few hours, charcoal will no longer be useful. Purchase bentonite clay powder from a health food store, and mix it with enough water to form a paste. Apply this paste onto the wound, and cover it with medical tape.
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 spiders have become infamous for causing.
Be Prepared
You may not be able to get bentonite clay from local retailers, so every family that has a possibility of being bitten by brown recluse spiders should purchase it as soon as possible, and keep it ready in storage.
As it turns out, conventional medicine doesn't really have treatments for brown recluse bites apart from trying to confine the venom to one area. As activated charcoal is a well-known toxin absorber, it makes sense that this treatment was developed. It's also good that the treatment utilizes echinacea because Native American treatments are often remarkably effective at dealing with wounds like this. If nothing else, keep the bite area very clean and try to treat the individual reactions like headaches and nausea.
This is excellent advice that all preppers should add to their first aid binders. To read more about this important topic, visit The Health Wyze Report.
I got bit and didn’t know till 3 days later at the bit the skin started rotting and got infection it’s no fun was sick for while
Misty Lawson
With our luck lol
Lol. Don’t worry I took a pic of the self treatment steps
This is how it looks
This is how it looks
There is a weed in your yard called plantain. Draw out the poison by crushing up the weed and rub a KY jelly paste and rub it in the bite. Next finish the project in the garage you started last week. Your not getting any younger!
Lost a foot to one of these bastards
First Smash the spider…!
John you have a pic somewhere around of the plantain plant?
should ALWAYS keep a bottle of Campho-Phenique in bugout bag or when you are hiking/camping!
I’ve been bit by brown recluse spiders several times and I know for sure this works: put a little dab of crisco (lard) on top of the bite and cover with a bandaid. Leave it there a few hours. Then, take a sterile needle and pop the blister, catching ALL the poison in a tissue (be careful it doesn’t touch other parts of your body). Re-apply crisco and repeat until blisters quit forming.. This also works for splinters, etc.. The crisco draws the bad stuff to the surface. I hope you never have to worry about it but if you do, this is very easy, and takes away the throbbing pain really fast.. An x-marine told me about it, it really does work…
When I was bitten on my arm, I felt it immediately.. When I was bit on my hands, I knew it within a day… It’s probably likely that a brown recluse didn’t cause the spot on your leg..
How Long did it take to turn black? Mine always made blisters. Then I treated them and they didn’t do damage.
I respectfully disagree… These bites throb in pain not Long after they bite. The only time I went to the dr about one was the first time. That’s the only one that left a scar. All the other times, I put crisco on it and it never caused damage. The pain was gone in a few hours and it was healed within a day. Where’s the dr gave me steroids, antibiotics, and an antihistamine and took a week to heal – then tried to come back – which is when I put crisco on it and it healed completely.
By the next morning it was black for me anyways.
Thanks!