My ear was swollen, hot, and red for a day or so, then two spots of broken skin appeared. I went to my family doctor, who said he “thought” it was a bite of some kind, perhaps a spider bite. I also told him I had pain in the shoulder on that side, but he dismissed it as being incidental. He gave me an antibiotic, which I have been taking. That was Friday. Over the weekend, the pain in the shoulder has gotten worse, and has turned into a burning pain. The ear lesions are also worse–now there are four of them. We live in brown recluse territory, so I am worried.
I plan to see a doctor tomorrow, but I just realized that I don’t know what type of doctor specializes in bites. Would a dermatologist make sense? An infectious disease doctor (although I have never met one outside of a hospital)? Any opinions? I plan to ask my family MD, but I thought I would ask for opinions here as well.
If any of you have stories of similar symptoms, I wouldn’t mind hearing those–especially if it all turned out well. Googling “spider bites” scared the bejebus out of me.
Well, it looks like no one wants to touch the medical advice posts with a ten-foot pole. But since you have already decided to see a doctor:
It sounds very much like a brown recluse bite. If it is, your treatment probably won’t change very much (antibiotics are pretty much all you can do). Luckily, most recluse bites heal on their own in several weeks.
I believe a dermatologist is indeed the specialist you seek.
[Please don’t take this post as in any way saying you shouldn’t see a doctor]
I promise I will go see a doctor (again!) tomorrow, no matter what anyone says. I just want some advice about what kind of doctor to see, and maybe some thoughts about this stupid pain. I am not at all convinced it is incidental.
It believe the medical experts on insect bites are dermatologists, so I imagine that’s where you’ll be eventually referred. As for the pain, have you taken any ibuprofen? If you don’t have any stomach problems, it is sort of the drug of choice for pain/swelling.
I’ve been taking Aleve, which is over the counter naprosyn, another NSAID. It still hurts like hell and has started to itch as well. It just seems weird to me, as it is so far from the site of the bite. On the other hand, why the hell would I have these symptoms if not from the bite? I am not asking, just musing. I will ask the MD tomorrow. Promise.
As it happens, I have a dermatologist–I was recently treated for squamous cell cancer on my wrist. I will give him a call tomorrow.
Trunds out the ermatologist thinks I have shingles. The shoulder pain is referred pain from it, so not incidental. This is the second time my family doctor has been wrong–a few months ago, he gave me anti-fungal cream for what turned out to be skin cancer. Since I have only seen him for 5 months, that is a pretty lousy average. I might be looking for a new doctor soon.
Googling “spider bites” scared the bejebus out of me.