Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Treating Scars ~ Venomous Spider Bite Update

The post you've all been waiting for (maybe). . . 

I have had a nasty scar on my leg, left from a venomous spider, and have been putting homemade calendula cream on it for over a year now.

Did you know that calendula has the properties to help new skin growth?  I just learned this even though I was already using the cream/lotion.  It has helped too.

Warning:  Graphic photos.  If you do not want to see the bite before and after (some of the before) do NOT click to continue reading.


I regret not taking a photo the day I was bitten.  It was simply a painful red area with a red ring a bit outside of the bite mark.   The next day it was a huge (tall) filled blister and the outer ring turned black.  The  next photo you see is what I was dealing with, when I had an ignorant doctor who saw money and that was it, and prescribed me the wrong antibiotics not only for the pneumonia I had at the time, but also for the spider bite.   

Actually two doctors that didn't take care of me right away - the first told me to put a compress on it and that was it.  Then when it got worse, I went to the second one, and he just saw money coming in, so he made sure I'd come back often (truly the case, and I found out later he was about to go out of business, and was a private practice).

Anyway, the new doctor (my 3rd doctor) simply treated it with the same cream you treat burns, a ton of gauze, and tape.  He put me on Bactrim for a very short time on the onset of meeting with me.  

I followed his instructions, met with him when needed (and way less than the other doctor wanted to see me, who was doing NOTHING for me/it).

I then made calendula cream to use on it religiously, after the bite healed completely.  I had to keep it out of the sun (no problem there), and allow it to heal.  

So...here is the series of photos, not including the bite on my foot, which is almost not even visible now.  These are not even the worst photos either.  

First, I started putting plantain poultices on both bite marks, while seeing the first doctor. I honestly feel this saved my leg and foot from serious damage.



Fighting to get help with the second doctor who robbed me blind, did nothing medically to heal this correctly, and who ignored me when I asked him to look at it each visit which was 3 x week or more.   


I saw my new doctor August 28th, of 2017.  Amazing results.






This photo is somewhat bad quality, but you can see the scar healing.  I also put the calendula cream on my old camping scar, which is almost gone.

I am working on another scar treatment, so I will have another update after it's been applied for several months.

Advice - if you see unfamiliar bite that hurts go straight to the ER.  Me? I would put a plantain poultice on it while going to ER.


10 comments:

Mama Pea said...

Good gosh! That horrible wound from a spider bite! Thank heaven you knew the natural remedies to use. Otherwise, I'm afraid it would have been MUCH worse!

Goatldi said...

Well good for you and me. Me? I planted to seed a large amount of Calendula in the bee, butterfly, hummingbird garden. Good information to have. I knew it was great for many things but it just gets better.

mamasmercantile said...

My goodness such an amazing improvement. I am certainly grateful for our NHS service.

Yarrow said...

Wow! That's an amazing result! I had a mysterious bite on my foot last week, possibly an non-venomous spider, but my whole foot swelled like a balloon! My Dr was great, despite not speaking English, lol :D All better now and I'm glad you sorted out a treatment in the end.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Mama Pea, I honestly feel putting the plantain poultices on right away saved my leg. The first two doctors were so ignorant to the bite too.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Goatldi, calendula is very handy to have. I use it in my lip balm too.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

mamasmercantile, I knew something was very wrong when I didn't recognize the bite as anything we get around here. It was very different and painful.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Yarrow, so glad you have a good doctor. I'm glad I found one before it was too late (had to wait too long to get in to see him too).

Nancy In Boise said...

My daughter had a nasty spider bit on her arm when she was about 10, with a red streak up her arm. I took her straight to urgent care, got antibiotic shot/pills/ointment. It took 6 months to heal up, but better than if I hadn't seen it! Luckily we got a great PA. Sucks to have incompetent staff.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Nancy, I sure miss my old doctors. They knew what they were doing.