In asking if people think I should see a doctor?

[arganlady]

I got bitten two days ago on the arm. I think. I was working outside and looked down and it was bleeding, I didn't catch or bash it that I know of.

It's been itching like hell ever since and now has swollen up and it got and hard.

Going to the doctor on a weekend will cost me a small fortune (not in the UK) and it's 2 hours each way (please whatever wait the ER will have.)

DH thinks it's nothing and I shouldn't be worried but he's no good bloody judge, he's one of these people that doesn't go to the doctor until he's half dead or a limb is falling off. 

Pictures included. I'm assuming it was a spider bite as a red ant or similar would have hurt more at the time.

Why won't the pictures attach?!! Bloody hell mumsnet!

Is there a pharmacy nearer?

No pharmacy near either!

It doesn't look it but it's actually really swollen. I have tiny wrists.

It sounds like a normal spider bite to me. If it were really serious you would have known by now. Spider bites can be VERY itchy for several days, and swelling is common. Personally, I would wait it out. If you were going to have had a life threatening reaction, it would have happened by now. So long as it's not infected, you'll be fine.

It looks fine to me and nothing to worry about.

I think you should get it checked, a few years back I got bitten while in the garden (didn’t notice it when it happened, just later). I didn’t think it was anything to worry about but a few days later it had got quite painful - my partner told me to get it checked but I felt like an idiot, I said “it’s a bite, it’ll be a waste of their time”. Another few days passed and I woke up to what looked like a hole in my leg, I went straight to minor injuries after work and they said it appeared to be a spider bite and that the wound had gone necrotic. I had to go back every 3 days for about 6 weeks to get the wound packed and dressed to try to heal the hole I had in my leg. When they asked why I left it so long I told them that I felt silly and they told me off. It could be nothing, or it could be something. If it’s bothering you get it looked at - even if you just go to the pharmacy before anywhere else.

@Aquamarine1029 thanks. I was mostly worried because it's done it two days later. Is that a thing with spider bites?

Fucking things, my hatred for them is clearly well founded!

Yes... I'm afraid you need to go. I don't like the look of the colour and it's travelling up your arm.

I react badly to bites. Had a horse fly bite few years ago that needed serious hardcore antibiotics and a hospital visit. Only just avoided hospital overnight with drips etc.

Draw a line on the edge of the red swelling and monitor it. Have you taken anti-histamines? I would apply a cool compress and keep an eye on it.

In my experience, yes. I've had many spider bites over the years.

I am allergic to mosquito bites. I've only ever been bitten by a spider once before and it left this huge weird hole for ages and now it's like a keloid scar.

It's got piss coming out of it now. Clearish but a little yellow tinged.

PUSS! God if there was piss coming out I'd be straight down the doctors!

Yes, I would definitely get it checked out

My dd 2 had a spider bite last year - they even sent photos to some specialist elsewhere.

Advice given was draw a ring round the red patch, take antihistamines and cold pack the swelling. Watch closely if it continues to spread then off to ER you go.
Watch it carefully for infection

Pus! If it were puss you'd be having kittens!

Do you have a fever and is it hot to the touch? It looks to me like a spider bite (if that’s the bite in the second pic then I’d feel more confident, as they make a double-dot mark like what I think I can see). Itching is not a concern. What you need to watch out for: a fever over 38.5, if the red area is hot to the touch, if it starts to hurt and the pain increases, if the swelling continues to grow (at the hospital, they will draw a line around the red area and then see if it grows outside the line), or if the bite mark starts to weep gross-smelling fluid. If you don’t have any of that, then it’s not a cause for concern.

It looks as though it's travelling up your arm. I am also allergic to mosquito bites and had one that felt painful and different from my usual (bad!) reaction. The pale red swollen area went up to my knee so I went to the GP - it was cellulitis and I needed antibiotics. Keep an eye on it and if it continues spreading up your arm, get to the doctor. Cellulitis can lead to sepsis.

Oh yep, pus I would say means straight to the doctor. Sorry; that’s a definite sign of infection and you can’t take a risk that it’s cellulitis.

Oral antihistamine. Pharmacist can recommend.

If there’s pus and/or it’s hot to the touch get yourself to a doctor pronto. It could be infected which will require antibiotics. In the meantime take antihistamines and as mentioned above monitor the red area to see if it’s spreading

Sorry; that’s a definite sign of infection and you can’t take a risk that it’s cellulitis.
I’m guessing cellulitis too.

My youngest used to react like that to mozzies. I used to squeeze my own bites like spots Have you drawn a line as suggested above to track it?

I managed to see a doctor who was out here by chance and they gave me Keflex as they said it was definitely an infected spider bite that had turned in to cellulitis.

Now it's gone up my arm though.