Glad you're on the mend OP!
Not sure spider bites are that rare. I haven't seen the numbers. But Ive seen 2 icu admissions this year. 1 had a wound vac. im sure there are much more as the majority are prob treated as outpatients or they are on the surgical floors post op if inpatient. We only see them if they need pressors due to sepsis. Pretty gross wounds, even after surgery. So, lots of color pics in the EMR.
Snake bites seem to be more common this time of year.
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Nobody knows for sure.
The frequency of incidence has no bearing on the matter as it honestly doesn't matter if it's rare or not. You went off the deep end with your doctor conspiracy theory bit, and you would've been wrong to relay your advice in that situation. Regarding the OP, it seems he was also right to receive medical attention and get some treatment opposed to "just letting it heal." So in both cases your advice would be wrong. In which, I understand not running to the doc for a paper cut but I think to most this was obviously a bit more serious to say the least.
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It's not a conspiracy theory. I can't believe you even went there. It's a fact that most boils are MRSA, and it's a fact that MRSA came about and persists due to incredibly irresponsible use of antibiotics in western nations. It's also a fact that taking antibiotics unnecessarily for boils robs your immune system of the chance to learn to deal with it, and also contributes to the further resistance of the bacteria to the few antibiotics we have left that are effective against it, which only endangers people who are elderly or compromised. MRSA, along with other resistant strains, is an epidemic that could have been prevented that kills tens of thousands a year before their time. And if not stopped, it could easily spiral out of control in exponential fashion. And that's not conspiracy theory or conjecture. That's well established medical science. And I can tell you from personal experience that other western nations have been on this for decades now, and handle these things very differently now. That's how I learned about this stuff in the first place. While living in Europe I went to the doctor on several occasions for minor things like a boil and strep. When I asked for antibiotics they explained all this to me and assured me my immune system would take care of it. And you know what, they were right! Matter of fact, that was the last time I ever got strep. Used to get it pretty frequently and apparently letting my body deal with it once was enough to prevent future infections.
The biggest antibiotic-resistant threats in the U.S.
Information and data on antibiotic resistance. Download images and graphics, find burden numbers, and learn more about these top threats.
www.cdc.gov
It's not a conspiracy theory. I can't believe you even went there. It's a fact that most boils are MRSA, and it's a fact that MRSA came about and persists due to incredibly irresponsible use of antibiotics in western nations. It's also a fact that taking antibiotics unnecessarily for boils robs your immune system of the chance to learn to deal with it, and also contributes to the further resistance of the bacteria to the few antibiotics we have left that are effective against it, which only endangers people who are elderly or compromised. MRSA, along with other resistant strains, is an epidemic that could have been prevented that kills tens of thousands a year before their time. And if not stopped, it could easily spiral out of control in exponential fashion. And that's not conspiracy theory or conjecture. That's well established medical science. And I can tell you from personal experience that other western nations have been on this for decades now, and handle these things very differently now. That's how I learned about this stuff in the first place. While living in Europe I went to the doctor on several occasions for minor things like a boil and strep. When I asked for antibiotics they explained all this to me and assured me my immune system would take care of it. And you know what, they were right! Matter of fact, that was the last time I ever got strep. Used to get it pretty frequently and apparently letting my body deal with it once was enough to prevent future infections.
The biggest antibiotic-resistant threats in the U.S.
Information and data on antibiotic resistance. Download images and graphics, find burden numbers, and learn more about these top threats.
You're not getting it and you're having an argument with yourself, so let me know how that works out.
Stay on track here...... I said the OP should have that looked at by a Doc.... you said "let it heal." Another individual relayed his anecdote of having a wound progress in a quick manner. Meanwhile, you're on some diatribe about antibiotic resistance, which is fine, but some people need to understand what they are seeing before giving out incorrect advice. Again, you would've been wrong on both accounts. Probably best to let those educated in medicine decide what is going on when it gets to a certain point, I'd say that most people feel that the OP reached that point.
Again, HUGE difference between what's pictured in the OP and what that gentleman described, which does indeed sound like a genuine necrotizing spider bite. I've seen real recluse bites before, and believe me, there's no mistaking it. What OP had was a simple boil, staph to be sure, and probably MRSA. If the spider bite had anything to do with it at all then it was a secondary infection, not spider venom. More than likely though it was just a run of the mill cyst that subsequently became infected with staph (again, probably MRSA). It's just a little fold in the skin where the cells get sluffed off inwards and trapped in a sack, which is the granulated white stuff he described. The bloody puss was the bacterial infection secondary to that. His body isolated the infection, and it formed a head and popped and drained, which is exactly what's supposed to happen.
A few years ago I had what looks like the same on my stomach. They were about 4 inches apart. Never caused much of a problem but did take a while to heal.
That's easy to say after the fact now isn't it? What you're STILL failing to understand is that you are arguing the cause, I'm arguing that he should've had it looked at. Let's say your google search diagnosis is correct..... seems it would be prudent for most to get it looked at anyways? I mean, MRSA kills does it not? Basically, when something gets to a certain point it's probably best to go get checked out, regardless of the cause. You can always refuse the antibiotics if you feel it's the work of the devil or that this is akin to a papercut. Nature has a cool way of working out those kinks.
Oh stop it, nobody is winning Darwin awards here. You're making a big old mountain out of a little tiny molehill.
And no, it's not after the fact, and no I'm not speaking Google here. I'm speaking from LONG experience with these little *******s. Certain people with certain skin and hair types are much more susceptible to these than others, and I unfortunately happen to be one of those people. I'm not bragging when I say I probably know more about them than most doctors (and believe me, I wish I didn't). Needless to say if I went running to the doctor every time I got one I would probably be an immunocompromised wreck by now. By understanding what they are and how I can naturally strengthen my immune system I've dramatically reduced the number I get, and the severity, and I've also been able to effectively treat the few that I do get nowadays, without the use of antibiotics.
OP's photos and description told me all I needed to know, and I gave him some very sound advice based on lots of personal experience and research. If you want to go spend hundreds of dollars on a crackerjack PA who's just going to kneejerk prescribe antibiotics (and probably the wrong ones to boot) be my guest. OP came here looking for advice, and I had a very informed opinion to offer him. I'm not about to apologize for that, and I certainly don't appreciate your hostility or uninformed flailing arguments that obviously have more to do with your warm feelings towards the medical establishment than your actual knowledge on the subject. You've obviously not suffered from these like some of us have, so I suggest you just be glad for that and keep your trap shut when those of us who have are speaking with some hard earned authority on the subject. Your appeals to authority and childish scare tactics are not appreciated!
And forgive me if I don't share your worshipful admiration of the retail medical community, but it's their pathologically irresponsible behavior for decades now that has led to my predicament with these things. It's been known for a very long time now that their overuse of antibiotics was creating these superbugs, and yet they continued to do it anyways. Leading to MRSA and the needless suffering of people such as myself who are prone to getting these simply because we were born with course hair follicles. And that's to say nothing of people who are immunocompromised and get a lot more than just a little boil.
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