01 Nov, 2009
Spider Bite Remedies on a Sunday When the Doctor’s Office is Closed
Posted by: Beach Reporter In: beaches| california
Because I live in a place where it seldom seems to freeze anymore (used to, but those days are gone,) the Southern California beaches do have their fair share of spiders, fleas, and other bugs that are never touched by more than a subtle winter frost. Just sitting here typing, I was bit by a spider and it hurt. I saw the little fang marks and my arm began turning red.
Oh, great! I have had other bites that resulted in a course of antibiotics. As a matter of fact, it was several years ago right around Halloween that I woke up one day and my eye was so swollen that I couldn’t see. The doctor asked if I would bring the spider in with me next time I was bit (I’ve never managed to actually track down any of them that bite me, especially in my sleep.) I didnt’ need a costume that Halloween because I looked like a monster my puffed out eye.
It’s a Sunday, so I hoped that if I caught it soon enough before the wound closed, I could mitigate the damage of poison into my system. I put some tea leaves with moist, warm water on my arm. It’s taken about 10 minutes for the pain to dissipate, but it is mellowing though the area around the bite is red.
I did a web search to see if there’s any validity to my treatment. I didn’t find it but did discover other remedies, though I had none of the items mentioned at my immediate disposal to try them:
Take these steps to take the sting out of insect bites and rashes from poison ivy and poison oak and prevent infection. Alcohol, witch hazel, or jewelweed vinegar make good drying agents as a base for your home remedies. Make infusions of mucilage-containing anti-inflammatory, astringent herbs - such as calendula, jewelweed, comfrey, flax seed, aloe, oatmeal, mullein, yarrow, or plantain by soaking them for about an hour in water or vinegar. - anniesremedy.com
Another item I discovered was called Sawyer Bite & Sting Kit. It is a big plastic syringe with a cup on the nose that somehow creates great suction when you push the plunger down. It sucks lymph and poisons right back out the same holes they went in without need for cutting. Routine stings and bites quit hurting her in 15 minutes and no swelling occurs. Though primarily a snake bite tool, it apparently works on plain bites and stings, cleansing small puncture wounds, and especially poisonous spider bites. The author says he keeps a kit in every car. -badspiderbites.com
As for the tea leaves, my grandma used to use tobacco leaves to cure most every bite or sting, but since I don’t smoke or keep any around, I did the best I could, thinking the leaves of tea would work. Who knows?
