Spider bites could either be painful or itchy, yet most of the spider bites are nothing close to serious and can be simply treated at home. This is because most spider bites are not caused by dangerous spiders and some bites that are believed to be spider bites are actually just insect bites. However, when in doubt if you’ve been bitten by a dangerous spider, seek emergency medical help.
Here are some of the things you can do immediately after being bitten by a spider. Following these steps can help facilitate the administration of first aid treatment. If possible, also try catch the spider that bit you and bring it to a medical facility for proper identification.
Clean the bite area
Treatment for spider bite infection may not be necessary when you immediately clean the spider bite wound or bite area with the use of a cooly soap water.
Apply cold compress
After cleaning the wound, apply an ice pack or put a clean dressing then cold compress. Cold compress can bring down the venom while at the same time it can reduce pain and swelling of the spider bite.
See a doctor to prevent bacterial infection
However, if signs of an infection appears in the wound, it is important to see the doctor who can prescribe you with the right antibiotics to cure the infection. It is also important for the patient to follow up with his or her doctor since some wounds especially those created by brown recluse spider needs to be checked daily for up to four days.
The doctor can remove dead tissues in the necrotic areas each day to eliminate the chances of the patient from developing secondary bacterial infections.
Get treatment if bitten by a poisonous spider
Treatment for spider bite infection is needed if the spider bite was caused by a poisonous spider, such as the brown recluse spider. Brown recluse spider bites have been known to be painless and symptoms may only start to appear after eight hours.
The nature of the bite may not give you the thinking of cleaning the wound since the bite may only provide a short bee sting and small blisters which probably will just make you ignore the wound. This situation allows infection to set in after ignoring the spider bite. However, if infection does not set in, then the wound will just heal after 2 to 3 days.