This is really kinda TMI but I think it’s interesting. Remember when the spider bit my finger back in May or June of last year? I thought I was going to lose the fingernail but now I don’t think the nail is going to be permanently damaged.
The part of the nail that was damaged by the spider bite is bubbly and raised and feels a bit chalky but it looks like there’s good nail growing behind it.
The joint is still sore but I think it has gotten some better.
I think it’s so weird that the spider bit my finger between the base of my nail and the first joint and it damaged the fingernail.
Tony Bogusz says
No, that’s where the fingernail matrix lives in your fingers. It is from this matrix that the live keratin producing cells that are visible as “dead” nail tissue that needs trimming, or (if it’s your preference) coloring with polish or otherwise manicuring as the nail’s keratin grows-and-shows.
The bubbly area grew from the cells damaged by the venom from the bite. These cells have obviously repaired or replaced themselves from your immune system’s faithful workings. The continuing chronic problem in your joint may have been a less successful attempt by your immune system to do a complete repair from the venom’s damage there.
If it’s just that first finger joint, the long term damage is localized. Sometimes spider, snake, and gila monster bites also carry really rotten bacteria that can cause more damage or worse.
Donna says
I’m not good with spiders at all. The older I get the less tolerant I am of spiders. If I knew I had a spider bite I’d probably just have a heart attack. I’m happy you are recuperating well. I DO garden, so it’s inevitable that I run across them from time to time. I just go elsewhere and work and try not to have a fit. I’ve no idea why I’m so terrified of them and really don’t want to know. I gotta go now and think happy thoughts. PS. I know it’s not rational, nonetheless it’s there and nobody has been able to talk me out of it for 66 years. Happy thoughts….
Susan Nixon says
It does look healthy, and I’m wondering if the joint might stop hurting when the damaged part is grown completely out. I hope so. It isn’t interfering too much in your life, though.
Dianne Ruff says
I got bit at night watering my yard. It went up my pant leg started biting me on both legs. I think I hit a nest or walked through a nest about knee level it bit me Sixteen times on my legs three times on my left elbow two bites to my face. I didn’t get help about them till three weeks later. That was a mistake I waited to long. It triggered congestive heart failure in me and they took forever for them to heal. If you get bit seek help at a emergency room as soon as u can. It a almost nine months later now and there not all heal yet.i had a horrible experience with spiders here in Nevada don’t wish it on nobody.
Judy Laquidara says
I did go to the ER, with a black widow in a ziplock bag, when I got bit by that spider. The hospital here doesn’t even keep the anti-venom and wasn’t concerned. I was bit by a brown recluse on my leg and because I was already taking antibiotics for something else (can’t remember what), I didn’t have a terrible reaction to that one. I suspect it was a brown recluse that bit my finger, though I didn’t see it. I went to the doctor the next day and started taking antibiotics and was told to come back if it looked worse. I’ve been back twice due to swelling of the finger but both times, they felt like it was fine – just what happens after a spider bite.
Going to the ER, at least here, was a worthless trip. Next time, and with my luck, there will be a next time, I’ll probably not even go to the doctor when it happens but will watch it very closely and go to the doctor if there seems to be any infection or signs of skin damage.