Presumed Spider Bite, April 2, 2010

(perhaps Brown Recluse, but I didn't see the spider)

Had I known this would prove so interesting, I would have taken pictures earlier in the process.

Here are tiny thumbnails of the progress of the bite, from day 9 - day 61 (2 months).  Click on any of them to see a large picture.  The fuller explanation and other pictures follow.

(these were all taken on the same background, but sometimes the lighting was a bit different, which accounts for the scary look of the sixth photo.)

I noticed a small bite on my right forearm, just above the wrist on Friday afternoon.  It itched a little, looked similar to a mosquito bite, except there was a whitehead in the middle.

Didn't think too much about it, but applied Young Living Essential Oils to it as one would to a bee sting, etc.  Lavender, Purification®  (Ingredients: Citronella (Cymbopogon nardus), lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Melaleuca (Melaleuca alternifolia) lavandin (Lavandula x hybrida), and myrtle (Myrtus communis).

Can be used directly on the skin to cleanse and soothe insect bites, cuts, and scrapes. When diffused, it helps to purify and cleanse the air from environmental impurities including cigarette smoke and other disagreeable odors.)

Thieves® (Ingredients: Clove† (Syzygium aromaticum), lemon† (Citrus limon), cinnamon† (Cinnamomum verum), Eucalyptus radiata† and rosemary† (Rosmarinus officinalis CT 1,8 cineol. Thieves® was created based on research about four thieves in France who covered themselves with cloves, rosemary, and other aromatics while robbing plague victims. This proprietary essential oil blend was university tested for its cleansing abilities. It is highly effective in supporting the immune system and good health.*

†Young Living Therapeutic Grade™ essential oil.)

The bite continued to grow, larger, redder, and nastier looking, with a small, deep hole in the center, with pus and lymph.  It also swelled upwards quite a bit.  I kept applying oils including Thyme and Oregano, and also took those oils internally.  Also Helichrysum to aid circulation and homeostasis.*

The bite didn't hurt much, unless I happened to bump it. Didn't impede the use of my hand or arm.   Looked much uglier than it felt.  No streaks going up the arm or anything like that.  Didn't do yoga for several days because it was bothersome to keep that wrist too low, or to put pressure on the arm (as in Down Dog).

I had no fever, but the ulcer area was hot.  I had no systemic symptoms (no nausea, weakness, aches, etc.)

For the first several days, I also soaked the arm in a warm Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate) solution, twice daily, in the hopes that it would help draw out the toxin. It seemed to help initially, and then not, so I quit doing it.

The first pictures I took were at 9 days out.  I did keep it covered most of the time.  You can click pictures to enlarge them (if you dare).

(click to enlarge pictures)

April 10, 2010

April 12, 2010

Here is 2 days later, and you can see that there are 2 distinct holes on either side of the original hole (bite).  The stripe above the original ulcer is from adhesive bandages, because the skin became so fragile.  I switched to gauze wraps with no adhesive.

At this point, the immune system was working really hard to get rid of the toxic venom.  This is NOT infected!

The wound was draining pus and lymph and a yucky mixture of fluids, which helped to relieve the pressure on it.  I would purposely try to drain it a few times a day.  It didn't form a boil-like pus filled center at the surface.

One reason that I had to keep it covered (apart from the obvious) is that is was so fascinating to watch that I wouldn't have got any work done if I could have gazed upon it all day!

I was using Helichrysum to aid circulation, Lavender, Frankincense, Thieves® and Thyme on it.  I also put Cypress Oil above and below the wound on my arm to aid circulation, keep swelling down.*

It is still not particularly painful, except to bump.

(click to enlarge pictures)

April 12, 2010

April 13. 2010

Here you can see that the inflammation process had definitely turned around, and started to heal.  There is dead, flaking skin around it, but it is not nearly as swollen and inflamed.  Stopped draining pus.  Now it drains a little blood, which is very healthy.  YAY!

(click to enlarge pictures)

April 13. 2010

April 14, 2010

Here is is healing very well.  The wrinkles on it are from the pressure bandage I had just removed.  You can see that it is not nearly as swollen, and the holes are filled in.  I had removed the dead skin, so it looks a lot healthier. 

I am still applying Lavender, Myrrh and sometimes Helichrysum to aid circulation, healing, and to prevent scar formation.*

I am betting that I will have no scar at all when this completely heals!

I started using a zinc wrap, which is also used by diabetics to help heal leg ulcers, and it helps quite a bit.  It is just gauze impregnated with a 10% zinc oxide paste.

(click to enlarge pictures)

April 14, 2010

April 16, 2010

Still healing very well.  For a while I stopped applying the oils as rigorously as I was, and it started to be a bit painful, and itchy (as in an itch that you get with a healing wound), so I realized that I must have forestalled a great deal of discomfort by using the Oils regularly.  Lavender is one of the oils that works really well against itching.

Still using Lavender and Myrrh, and covering it with Animal Scents Ointment™ (Ingredients: Mink oil, lecithin, beeswax, lanolin, sesame seed oil, rosewood†, wheat germ oil, palmarosa†, geranium†, patchouli†, balsam fir† (Idaho), myrrh†, carrot seed oil, Melaleuca alternifoila†, and rose hip seed oil.

†Young Living Therapeutic Grade™ essential oil.)

It is now only draining a tiny bit of blood every now and then when I change the bandages.  You can see the pattern of the gauze if you click on the pictures to enlarge them.

This is 2 weeks from the original bite.

(click to enlarge pictures)

April 16, 2010

April 20, 2010

I was away for a few days, as the ulcer continues healing.  It appears redder in the picture than it does in actuality, as the light is different than with the previous photos. 

    I have continued to apply Lavender and Myrrh, with Animal Scents Ointment™ to "seal" the Oils.  I ran out of Helichrysum, and won't receive my new order for a couple more days, so I have stopped applying it, but I am sure it was more important in the earlier stages.*

I realized that the oils and zinc gauze wrapping have also facilitated healing because they prevented the formation of scabs, because the body doesn't have to form scabs for protection, so that it can heal more quickly.

The side stripe (above the ulcer, in the second photo below) is completely healed with new skin, no rawness at all.

(click to enlarge pictures)

April 20, 2010

April 21, 2010

I find this very amazing!  It turns out that those little whitish dots in the middle of the wound are new skin!  The are not contiguous with the new skin growing toward the middle from the perimeter, but one of them joined up today, and the other bit is MUCH larger.  I'll bet that in a couple of days, the whole patch will be entirely covered with new skin, which would make it 3 weeks from the original bite.

The Oils make such a difference because they support circulation and healthy growth while keeping any bad guys at bay.  This has all happened without a scab ever being created, and I am sure there will be no scar either.  This new growth is now proceeding VERY fast.

I am still applying Young Living Lavender and Myrrh about 4 or 5 times a day, covering it with a little Animal Scents Ointment™, a zinc impregnated gauze wrap with a short section of elastic Tubigrip stocking over it all.*

The first picture is a close up, and if you click on it (or any of them), you can see quite a bit of detail.  This is only one day from the last post, above. The interior new skin bits seem to have started from the "holes" that were created from the original bite, and then appeared on either side as the body was dealing with the toxic venom.

(click to enlarge pictures)

April 21, 2010

April 22, 2010

Here you can see that great progress has been made in just a single day!  I peeled off a stripe of dead skin that was around the perimeter of the wound, and it left a little pink strip, but it is not raw flesh, but new skin.

I learned on Dr. Oz today that zinc supports the growth of collagen, so that must be one reason that the gauze that is impregnated with zinc oxide works so well to support healing (and why it is used for diabetics' leg ulcers).

I have continued the routine of Lavender, Myrrh and Animal Scents Ointment™ on the wound every 3 or 4 hours, and wrapping the arm in zinced gauze and a Tubigrip stocking.  No pain.  Very slight itching.*

The new skin has reached the perimeter.  I might even be able to switch to a band aid, but I want to keep the zinc wrap, as it seems to work very well in conjunction with the Oils.

(click to enlarge pictures)

April 22, 2010

April 23, 2010

Well, this is three weeks out, and it is not quite finished healing, but probably will completely close up in another day or two.

My shipment of Oils came today, so I might start putting Helichrysum on it again, as well as the Lavender and Myrrh and Animal Scent Ointment™*.

I was able to peel off a little more sloughing skin.

(click to enlarge pictures)

April 23, 2010

April 24, 2010

Wow!  It is so tiny now.  Got some new Young Living Essential Oils yesterday, so I am now applying Helichrysum and Copaiba, which is supposed to be incredibly effective to promote homeostasis.  It is a resin from a Brazilian tree.*

I also put on a tiny bit of Animal Scents Ointment™, and just a small square of zinc impregnated gauze held in place with a tubi-grip.

(click to enlarge pictures)

April 24, 2010

April 26, 2010

Here it is completely closed, for the first time, with no raw flesh exposed.  The red area around the wound is also shrinking, and I will keep applying the oils systematically until all of the extra capillaries have cleared out, and the skin is back to normal, with no scar!  Still applying Helichrysum, Lavender, Myrrh, and Copaiba, covered with Animal Scents Ointment™.*

It has been 24 days from the original bite.  I am sure I will be peeling away some sloughing skin as it heals, as I have done several times already.  It does NOT hurt at all.

(click to enlarge pictures)

April 26, 2010

April 29, 2010

Here it is continuing to heal, and the thickened skin around the original bite is diminishing.  I have peeled off more of the sloughing skin.

This is the first day that I have left it unwrapped, but I am continuing to apply Helichrysum, Lavender, Myrrh and Copaiba, covered with Animal Scents Ointment™ every 2 - 3 hours.

Though the center is still distinct from the surrounding tissue, it is neither raw nor a scab.

(click to enlarge pictures)

April 29, 2010

May 2, 2010

Here it is one month from the original bite.  Still applying oils, and peeling skin, as it releases.  No pain.

(click to enlarge pictures)

May 2, 2010

May 5, 2010

It is very nearly healed now.  You can see the little red dot on the side.  When I peeled off the skin a couple of days ago, that bit was a little deeper.

The area is still a little discolored as the extra capillaries are being absorbed.

Still applying the same oils.

May 5,2010

May 11,2010

It is completely healed here, just a little discolored as the capillaries continue to retreat through apoptosis (programmed cell death - the capillaries were formed to bring extra blood to the wound for healing, and they are no longer needed, so they die off).  There is still a bit of thickened skin that will continue to peel off in the coming days.  I continue to apply oils, but not so frequently.

May 11,2010

June 02. 2010

Here it is, 2 months from the original bite.  Completely healed, but still slightly discolored as the capillaries continue to retreat.  No scar. I rarely put Oils on it, now.

If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can even see the hairs are growing back.

June 02. 2010

July 02. 2010

Here it is, 3 months from the original bite.  Completely healed, less discolored as the capillaries continue to retreat.  No scar. I don't put Oils on it, now.

If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can even see the hairs are growing back.

The rest of the arm is a bit splotchy because I have some vitiligo, which is not related to the bite, but an auto-immune condition.

(Vitiligo is a skin condition in which there is loss of pigment (color) from areas of skin, resulting in irregular white patches that feel like normal skin.)

July 02, 2010

*The information provided here is for education and illustration purposes only, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prescribe for any disease.  The decision to use, or not to use any of this information is the sole responsibility of the reader.  If you have a serious medical condition, consult your doctor.