# How to heal fastest from copperhead bite? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 31, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-heal-fastest-from-copperhead-bite/697050 "2014-08-31T15:41:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-heal-fastest-from-copperhead-bite/697050/1 "2014-08-31T15:41:46Z")
I got bit on my little toe by a copperhead Thursday evening. I went to the ER but didn’t need any serious treatment other than pain meds. It hurt like hell but by morning my foot didn’t hurt as long as I kept it elevated to hip level and didn’t bump it into anything. Since then things haven’t changed much. Every day the sensitivity to pain from bumping or putting a bit of weight on my heel is lower, but the swelling is pretty consistent (my foot, up to but not past my ankle, especially on the side of the bite). Any suggestions on how to heal as fast as possible? Crutches are a nuisance. The obvious: drink plenty of water, get plenty of rest, and keep my foot elevated. I’m also taking a bit of ibuprofen, though I haven’t been consistent about that (I should probably take one 200mg tab every 4 hrs). I’m avoiding very salty food. Any other tips? I’m interested in anything: science, of course, but also Grandma’s remedies, rumor, innuendo, and even blatant lies, as long as they’re funny. Homeopathic suggestions will be ignored, as they should be. Unless they’re funny, of course. The good news is the snake got me and not my dog. I’d have had a lot more stress if it had been my little pal! Also, it wasn’t very serious as copperhead bites go, and copperhead bites are generally not very serious. Just painful and a damned nuisance. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-heal-fastest-from-copperhead-bite/697050/2 "2014-08-31T15:45:59Z")
[Samuel L. Jackson] I’m tired of these motherfucking snakes biting my motherfucking toe[/SLJ] Somebody had to say it ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-heal-fastest-from-copperhead-bite/697050/3 "2014-08-31T15:55:24Z")
Isn’t there an antidote to copperhead venom? Or did your physicians decide that the antidote was likely to cause more problems than it solved? ---
**Author:** ![PorchePine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@PorchePine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PorchePine)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-heal-fastest-from-copperhead-bite/697050/4 "2014-08-31T16:04:43Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > Isn’t there an antidote to copperhead venom? Or did your physicians decide that the antidote was likely to cause more problems than it solved? Antivenin is horrible stuff. I’m not sure about snake bites, but when I was bit by a black widow, my physician and I decided to forgo the expense and side effects. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-heal-fastest-from-copperhead-bite/697050/5 "2014-08-31T16:05:43Z")
Obligatory [youtube link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvaEJzoaYZk), which may make you feel better. Sorry, I got nothing, but hope you heal up fast! That sounds so not fun. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-heal-fastest-from-copperhead-bite/697050/6 "2014-08-31T16:06:46Z")
According to my nurse, who is evidently the area expert who trains other nurses (and is a snake keeper himself), the antivenom is very expensive, and it’s not necessary unless the reaction to the bite is severe. First step, sez he, is to move the patient from ER to ICU. I’m glad we didn’t go down that path. Rick, thanks for the SLJ quote! I didn’t see the movie, but I agree wholeheartedly! I assume that was SOAP. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-heal-fastest-from-copperhead-bite/697050/7 "2014-08-31T16:12:16Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Obligatory [youtube link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvaEJzoaYZk) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-heal-fastest-from-copperhead-bite/697050/8 "2014-08-31T16:38:47Z")
What a coincidence - I caught this little guy yesterday and named him Jeff! I did think about Steve or Earl of course, but Jeff made less sense, so I went with it. Kept him around for a while to show some others who had never seen one. And, in a similar vein… My next-door neighbor was on crutches a while back, but I didn’t speak to him until about 3 weeks after that. Turns out he was putting stuff on his mulch pile - very near our pool - and was bitten by 3 baby copperheads. He didn’t go to the doctor until the leg had swollen so much that it split the skin wide open. The worst part is that he never even told me what happened until 3 weeks later, or suggested that the kids keep an eye open for venomous snakes ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-heal-fastest-from-copperhead-bite/697050/9 "2014-08-31T16:45:51Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Jeff made less sense That’s what people tell me. > [@](#): > > Kept him around for a while to show some others who had never seen one. And then what? :-o > [@](#): > > The worst part is that he never even told me what happened until 3 weeks later, or suggested that the kids keep an eye open for venomous snakes Bastid! Mine found me in the middle of my driveway. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-heal-fastest-from-copperhead-bite/697050/10 "2014-08-31T16:46:05Z")
Ouch! > [@chiroptera](#): > > Obligatory [youtube link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvaEJzoaYZk), which may make you feel better. > > Sorry, I got nothing, but hope you heal up fast! That sounds so not fun. Oh, damn, you beat me to it! 😃 LearJeff, I would suggest being good about the ibuprofen. It’s easier to keep pain down than to let it spike, take meds, and get it back down to a tolerable level again. Be sure to take with food. If I take NSAIDs for more than a day I throw in something like Zantac to get rid of acidity, which increases with using NSAIDS. YMMV, IANAD, etc. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-heal-fastest-from-copperhead-bite/697050/11 "2014-09-02T03:18:26Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > And then what? :-o I just wanted my co-workers from below the Rio Grande to recognize them when they saw them. I never advocate killing snakes unless it’s an obvious him-or-me situation. I let him go back into the woods as soon as everyone was learned up on copperheads! I was called away before I had the chance to [introduce you to Jeff.](http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v677/ural/IMG_02201_zpscade339b.mp4) I should have named him “Bitey”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-heal-fastest-from-copperhead-bite/697050/12 "2014-09-02T07:41:53Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > but Jeff made less sense, so I went with it. > [@Learjeff](#): > > That’s what people tell me. Tell me about it, brother. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-heal-fastest-from-copperhead-bite/697050/13 "2014-09-02T11:52:53Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > I got bit on my little toe by a copperhead Thursday evening. I went to the ER but didn’t need any serious treatment other than pain meds. It hurt like hell but by morning my foot didn’t hurt as long as I kept it elevated to hip level and didn’t bump it into anything. > > Since then things haven’t changed much. Every day the sensitivity to pain from bumping or putting a bit of weight on my heel is lower, but the swelling is pretty consistent (my foot, up to but not past my ankle, especially on the side of the bite). > > Any suggestions on how to heal as fast as possible? Crutches are a nuisance. > . Has it gotten infected? ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-heal-fastest-from-copperhead-bite/697050/14 "2014-09-02T14:14:07Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > Be sure to take with food. If I take NSAIDs for more than a day I throw in something like Zantac to get rid of acidity, which increases with using NSAIDS. YMMV, IANAD, etc. Thanks for the tip. I knew aspirin was acidic, but wasn’t aware it was true for NSAIDs in general. I made sure to take my usual Prilosec, and I’ve been fine. [QUOTE=ducati;17692962[introduce you to Jeff.] ([http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v677/ural/IMG\_02201\_zpscade339b.mp4](http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v677/ural/IMG_02201_zpscade339b.mp4)) [/QUOTE] Well ain’t that a beaut. Glad you didn’t have to whack him. > [@USCDiver](#): > > Has it gotten infected? Nope, thank goodness. By Sunday I could get around without crutches and get a loose flipflop on. I still have a grayish bruise over half my foot, but nothing like the nasty black-blue bruises I’ve seen on internet photos. Today I took my dog for a typical “short” walk for the first time. (He gets two a day, usually one short, one medium, and longer ones on the weekends or if it’s nice out.) My foot is still swollen and hurts like hell every time I bang it (which seems to happen a lot, especially when I was fiddling with the crutches). All in all I think I got off pretty easy.