Darklight Posted March 18, 2002 A close friend has been bitten by a white tailed spider last week and is succumbing to necrotising arachnidism spreading rapidly from the bite site. The only medically available treatment seems to be antibitics. Now they don't know if the necrosis arises from bacteria ( possibly Mycobacterium ulcerans ) in the spider's mandibles, a poor response from a compromised immune system or another cause. A web search has turned up alternative therapies of colloidal silver, and a eucalyptus based extract which also contains teatree. Anyone here have any further information on proven alternative treatments for this condition please email me ASAP? My mate's going back to hospital tomorrow. TIA [email protected] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spiraleyes Posted March 18, 2002 nasty, hope your friends ok. where abouts were they bitten. my friends mum got bitten on the cheek,i think she still has problems after a few years. if i see her ill ask what she has used to help it. so does this make you the first double poster? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waterdragon Posted March 18, 2002 well i'll put a reply here too. if it is a bacteria then colloidal silver should slay it, if u can make your own colloidal do a triple strength batch. i've found tea tree oil quite murderous on infections. also crushed comfrey applied as a poultice and held in place with a bandage should at least reduce the scarring, if not more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
t st tantra Posted March 18, 2002 my daughter was bitten by unknown spider,developed sunken pit of flesh.5c piece size.one application of tea tree oil and it was so improved the next day we didnt seek medical advice .i assumed it was a necrotising wound,weirdly ulcerous but mainly sunken. t s t . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eccles Posted March 18, 2002 I hope your friend is OK Darklight! That TTO suggestion sounds pretty good! It would be good if this thread could be kept going, especially with some extra research put into it by people. I'd like to host a document about this ('plant treatments for spider bites') - as that is the kind of information that would be, not to but too fine a point on it, fucking useful should something like this happen again. People need to know this kind of thing... This is Australia for god's sake hehe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
woof woof woof Posted March 18, 2002 Hey Eccles.... right on the dot! Herbal or treatments that nature provides! Jeez.... Austrailia has got some real nasty critters compared to the "wussy" creatures here on Curacao. Start with a list of dangerous animals and a list of Herbs or other natural cures that are known for treating bites or stings. Keep this thread going! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squiresk Posted March 18, 2002 Well, keeping this thread going, I'll add some recently aquired knowledge, prolly common knowledge, but for me, a miracle. Mozzie bites, aloe vera. Just rub it in. I know there is much worse than that but for us foreigners to this land who may not be used to mosquito bites, this stuff is a god send. But for anything serious I'd always got to a professional medical doctor first, and maybe seek alternative remedies later. Oh, and tell your doctor what you are taking, they may have some advice also. Kai Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
woof woof woof Posted March 20, 2002 My grand father told me as a small child, that if you get stung by a wasp or bee.... take leaves of two different plants/trees and rub'em on the place where you are stung. I am not entirely sure if it works.... but granpa was pretty knowledgeable when it cam to plants and nature. And also take in account of course that there are different wasps around the world... wich do not produce the same or exactly the same chemicals / poisons to inject their victems with. And there's also the allergic person among us , who needs direct medical attention when stung bya bee or wasp. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest reville Posted March 27, 2002 OK. heres what my friend at the museum says The white tails carry the mycobacterium (in which group you ill also find Tuberculosis and leprosy i think , both also persistent bacteria) Not all white tails carry it and it is believed to be a commensal organsims on the spider.Being a ground dwelling spider they just pick it up, so only a proportion of the spiders have it Being a mycobacterium its a chronic problem. Tuberculosis is actually the result of an infection where your macrophages pick up the Bacteria and try to 'eat' them. The bacteria is resistant and simply stays alive and well within the macrophage. so on and so forth till the body realises this and kills the infested macrophage relasing the contents to begin again. the result is a pool of indestructible bacteria multiplying in the spilt contents of dead cells.It has a charming name - caseous necrosis - kind of a 'cheesy rot'. A lesion develops where this area is walled off by the body. If successful you just carry these around for life , if not its spreads through the lungs and then sometimes throughout the body. not nice. My guess is that the same thing is happenning here - a mycobacterium gets in through a bite and is reacted to by the immune system. this escalates into a chronic inflammation. The fact that it can diappear and rappera elswhere on the body sound just like when TB gets out of the lung and resurfaces elsewhere. There must be a diagniostic test. im sure if there were Mycobacterium present they could be plated up on the plates they use (or a modification of) for TB and othere Mycobacterium. And if it were confirmed i wonder if a topical antibiotic containg anti mycobacterial agents would work? Itll probaby turn out to be along the lines of Bairnsdale ulcers (M ulcerans) also a freeliving mycobacterium that causes similar necrosis http://members.ozemail.com.au/~groverjohns...n/Mulcerans.htm As for controlling them. They eat other spiders in particular the black house spider. Being at the top of the food chain their local abundance must be related to the local abundance of their prey.Something to consider a titbit off the web Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has been used to treat ulcers of various origins, including suspected spider bite, with some success. There are case reports of its success in the healing of some ulcers thought to be due to spider bite, but no controlled trials have been conducted. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest reville Posted March 27, 2002 http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/171_2_...cus/pincus.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
