Calling Dr. Hive... bite? with swelling and redness?

[staceyobu]

Yesterday evening I noticed what looked to be a pimple on my thigh. It had a spot of white pus. So, I popped it. Only the tiniest amount of pus came out. Today there is a ring of redness as big as the palm of my hand surrounding it and a smaller area is hard and warm. I'm wondering if it could be a spider bite?

 

Do I need to suck it up and go to the afterhours clinic now? Can I see what i looks like tomorrow? Will it maybe just get better?

 

I really, really, really hate doctors.

[treestarfae]

Go now!

[JenneinCA]

You need to go to the Urgent Care place today.

 

That sounds like cellulitis. It is usually treated with antibiotics and there isn't a problem, but if it goes bad it is REALLY REALLY BAD.

[Perry]

Yes, go tonight. It's very likely to be MRSA.

 

When a patient presents with a soft-tissue infection and claims it is due to a spider bite, perhaps you don't want to go there. "Spiders are getting a bad rap. Get a culture because what you are seeing is probably community-acquired MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus)," says Tom Frank, Pharm.D., B.C.P.S., an associate professor of pharmacy practice and assistant professor of family and community medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Jonesboro, Ark.

Frank, who conducted the Dialogue session "Antimicrobial Therapy: New Challenges, Few Tools" at the Assembly, says that "77 percent of patients presenting with soft-tissue infections are showing up with MRSA on culture." Most of these patients attribute the infection to spider bites, he says. This observation was confirmed during the discussion when several physicians noted that they, too, were seeing a surge in spider bite complaints.

 

[mysticamethyst]

If you don't go watch it carefully and if it develops a dark spot in the middle its most likely a staph infection. I would really, REALLY, go to the urgent care as soon as you can. A simple infection can go for bad to hospital antibiotics super fast; nothing to mess with for sure.

[MotherGoose]

Yes, NOW, or you'll be seeing a great many more doctors. My dh had a spider bite that looked bad and fortunately he went to a MD and got med. You can develop a huge abcess, quickly

[golfcartmama]

I would draw a ring around it with a sharpie and if it gets any larger, or starts with red streaks radiating from it, then go to urgent care

[StephanieZ]

I would draw a ring around it with a sharpie and if it gets any larger, or starts with red streaks radiating from it, then go to urgent care

:iagree:

 

Whether it is a spider bite, MRSA, or something else is of course impossible for us to know. . . Last week, dh had a very similar thing, the evening after he'd spent an afternoon chopping firewood. . . So, we definitely suspected a spider bite. He did hot compresses, good washing, and watched it closely. Was improved the next day & healed up fine w/o intervention.

 

Even MRSA is generally effectively treated with good old fashioned hygiene -- soap, water, clean towels, & covering w/ a bandage -- something you should do for any oozie wound. (We've had MRSA here, and effectively managed it as above as directed by our DR, w/o systemic antibiotics. . .)

 

So, anyway, watch closely. Wash well, cover well, use a clean towel each time you touch it & put the towel right into a hot water wash. If it's improving, you're fine. If it's getting worse, seek care. (If in doubt, seek care!)

[staceyobu]

Okay... I'm going to watch it until in the morning, unless it gets bad enough to inspire me to go the ER. If my leg falls off, you can all say "I told you so!". I think my fear of doctors is overruling my fear of horrible infection.

[Lolly]

I would draw a ring around it with a sharpie and if it gets any larger, or starts with red streaks radiating from it, then go to urgent care

 

:iagree:This is what the doctor would want you to do. They will be so impressed if you go in with it circled to tell how/if it is spreading.

[JenneinCA]

Update?

[Catwoman]

I'm wondering, too -- I hope you're ok!

 

Cat

[unsinkable]

stacey,

 

how are you doing?

[Nakia]

Definitely sounds like cellulitis. I got cellulitis from a bee sting once, and it was awful. I went to the doctor, and they put me on Keflec for a week, and that took care of it quickly. Go on to the doctor this morning. You certainly don't want to let that go.

[mysticamethyst]

Any news yet?

[JenneinCA]

Trying again for an update.

 

I am hoping that she didn't wait too long and end up with something bad.

[unsinkable]

bump (hopefully not a bump on Stacey's leg...she's probably just busy with the holidays...)

[JenneinCA]

One more try for an update.

[staceyobu]

Thanks for the concern! Sorry, I forgot to come back to this thread. It has been improving on its own. I circled the redness the next morning and it never extended beyond the circle. It has looked bruised as it improved, so I have no idea what the heck happened to my leg. But, today it is almost looking 100% normal.