What the heck is doing this to my finger? Don't remember being bitten. Started itching Friday night so thought it was an ant bite. Then Saturday it starting developing a growing blister.

Looks like a recluse bite. Seems to be a faint red ring from the knuckle to the hand. I got tagged on the inner thigh and it looked just like that. Left a hole for about 6 months.

Can a doctor actually do anything besides tell me what likely bit me? I thought anti venom has to be done within 24 hours to have much effect.

ER Nurse next to me says that it doesn't look like staph, but does look like a spider bite. Doesn't think an ER visit is necessary, potentially urgent care to get it checked out by a doc if you want. Says they likely will not give antibiotics unless it starts feeling hot to the touch, redness starts spreading, or starts leaking pus.

Deerdude said:

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I had an Assassin bug sting me once and looked similar after a couple days.

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Yeah, but I guarantee you knew it when it happened. I hear that hurts big time.

B-1 83 said:

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Deerdude said:

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I had an Assassin bug sting me once and looked similar after a couple days.

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Yeah, but I guarantee you knew it when it happened. I hear that hurts big time.

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For sure. Thought someone shot my leg off. Very painful for several hours. Beat the heck out of big south Texas Yellowjackets or Red Wasps. Yea pretty much if it stings in Texas, they've already found me.

We need an update on how this things looking today

My brother-in-law almost died with a brown recluse bite. Don't mess around, go see a doctor NOW! Oh, and his wound had to have plastic surgery.

Following

ChoppinDs40 said:

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I got staph on my ball fro junior year of college, right above my troll nose.

Went to Beutel thinking I had some real bad STI. Dark lonely place, especially since I had recently fornicated with a hot, yet ****ty girl.

When I showed him, he goes "been with any strange women lately?" then paused and chuckles. He said it looked like staph. Took a culture and tested immediately. Got some antibiotics. I had a pretty good "wound" there for some time.

It was starting to ooze... like a flesh eating virus. I thought it was just an ingrown hair at first but then started to be warm to the touch. Glad I got to it when I did.

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Similar story. After my 16 year marriage broke apart, I was fornicating with a hottie ****ty cray cray divorcee chick and got a spot on my peepee. WebMD searches had me convinced it was the herps. Turned out to just be and infection and not any kind of STD.

I know about that dark place. I had to go to my extended family Thanksgiving in a pretty foul mood thinking I had just ruined my life.

But definitely get it checked out.

Daughter got bitten by brown recluse on her outer thigh years ago. Looked like that then started oozing puss. Dr. cleaned it all up. Put her on big antibiotics….still oozed for days and was a hole for a long time. 10 plus years later it's a scar.

Not getting any wider. Clear delineation between normal skin and red skin. Blister in the middle is mostly gone.

Glad to see it's not spreading !

It's rarely ever a spider bite but yours just might be the exception. If it is your skin may start dying in that area and need debridement (ie surgery to remove the dead skin) or it may heal up on its own with a small scar. It would be good to follow up with your family doc so he/she can keep an eye on It and refer to a surgeon if needed.
It doesn't really look like a staph infection/abscess/boil though you could try soaking with a warm rag to see if that helps. The second picture actually looks like it may be improving some though if you're a diabetic or have other medical problems antibiotics wouldn't be a bad idea. Superficial wound cultures are fairly unreliable so I don't think you'll be missing out if you don't get one. Keep us updated with pics

Gunny456 said:

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His doc told him that it can live on surfaces for a period of time and get picked up again.
I have know idea if that's true or not but I've herd staph is bad mo fo.

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100% true. Staph is very contagious, and nothing to play around with. Put my Dad in the hospital several years ago, which is dang hard to do. That is one tough ole man. I've known a couple friends who have had it as well, and all have required some form of medical treatment.

That being said, I agree with posters above. This looks awful spidery. I've had 2 unidentified spider bites in the past, and one looked very much like that one. The other was worse.

I got staph from going up to MD Anderson when my dad was there, the nurses there tried to keep everyone washing hands etc but I somehow got one, under my arm of all places, must have got it on my fingers and I then scratched my under arm.. mom was an RN and noticed it immediately and I went to the local ER type clinic, they put me on strong antibiotics and had me keep it covered and cleaned … needless to say I did as the nurses instructed from then on and washed my hands all the time when I was up at MD … that thing got the size of a golf ball in no time, almost over night

My doctor marked the lines with an indelible pen to make sure no growth even minute.