Natural Remedies for a Brown Recluse Spider Bite

| Modified on Nov 27, 2023
The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Honey, Coconut Oil, Cayenne + Poultice
Posted by healer Larry (central point oregon) on 11/26/2023
★★★★★

i had a neighbor come over and ask if I could help her neighbor who had been bitten by a brown recluse spider. I went over and asked if she actually wanted my help, she was bipolar. she said yes. as she had already been to the emergency room twice, and they did nothing. She had black streaks going up her almost to her elbow, she was bit on the web by the thumb.

I went home and mixed up my wound healing cream of equal parts honey and coconut oil probably two tablespoons each. I broke open three capsules of cayenne added 5 grams of msm powder and mixed it all together.

This by itself is an absolutely incredible pain reliever and healer for cuts, scrapes, open sores etc. but I knew she needed a drawing actor so I broke open five capsules of activated charcoal and mixed it in. went over and applied it.

The pain immediately subsided and she said within thirty minutes the black streaks started coming back down her arm. She healed up in a couple of weeks, and crazy enough, another man bought her house and was bitten by a brown recluse five years later, I saw him limping and he had a necrocious patch three inches across his calf I made the same formula and he also healed quickly. Also works on scorpion bites and other spider bites.


Activated Charcoal, Baking Soda
Posted by Raven (Illinois) on 09/04/2023
★★★★★

First, I used peroxide to clean the outside of the wound. I applied iodine and liquid magnesium- which created itching for my so . I added Manuka honey to the charcoal and baking soda mix, and applied. The swelling, itching and redness reduced to 1/3 of the size within an hour.


MMS, Zinc Oxide
Posted by Suzy (Texas) on 08/29/2023

Received this remedy from my Naturopath who healed a brown recluse bite. I use it for all bites.

I put 6 drops each in a carrier oil.

  • White Camphor
  • Lemon
  • Lavender
  • Teatree
  • Frankincense

Hope this helps❤️


MMS, Zinc Oxide
Posted by Lisa (idaho) on 08/29/2023

Since the bite has already healed on the skin, (with your great treatments) It seems more likely the deeper damage may have some scaring or toxins giving you pain. I would try: increasing circulation, ( the nutmeg cure mentioned would do this) hot packs, DMSO or MSM, and mustard packs or anything that increases circulation to bring blood to area. I would also use caster oil packs to dissolve the scar tissue ( my guess is there is some there). Iodine also helps with scaring, both topically and be sure to take enough orally to help out also.


MMS, Zinc Oxide
Posted by Jeanne (Colorado) on 08/29/2023

Sorry to hear about the spider bite experience. What helped me with swelling like that was Bromelain enzymes on empty stomach - first in the morning and then before sleep. And after that Ichtyol black creme. Our vet's assistant recommended it, and sold it to me, bless her, as it it much more reasonably priced, and same exact product from vet.

Had to wipe it with damp paper towel, and it left skin smooth and happy. I used that creme for a week, same as the Bromelain, that gets rid of various dead tissues when taken on empty stomach.


Manuka Honey
Posted by Strobelight (Colorado Springs) on 08/28/2023
★★★★★

Brown Recluse Spider Bites:

The article lists several things for the bite including HONEY but it does not say what kind of honey. The honey every household should have on hand is the New Zealand raw Manuka honey. No other honey has what the New Zealand honey has in it, it has been known to kill even the flesh eating bacteria MRSA. Have one jar for the actual bite and one jar to eat while you are healing from the bite so it is in your bloodstream. If you can add 16 oz of fresh celery juice you make yourself with a juicer, it will kill all bacteria and viruses, has mineral salts in it that are miracle products but only survive for 24 hours. Everyone has some wonderful remedies, do as many as you can stand!


MMS, Zinc Oxide
Posted by Susan C. L. (Greenville SC) on 08/28/2023

Hi Lee, I think a blood/body cleanse would be helpful. I like the Vital Planet body cleanse is great. It does liver, lungs, skin, blood and bowel.

You need to buy 2. Each one is 2 weeks. After the cleanse on the next full moon, start a parasite cleanse. I am sure you will feel 100% better. Nebulizing hydrogen peroxide will help quite a bit since it circulates throughout the body. Blessings

Susan 😎🐾🙏


MMS, Zinc Oxide
Posted by Pete (Tucson Arizona) on 08/28/2023 5 posts

Use your mms to soak your foot. 5cc sodium chlorite activated with 5cc hydrochloric acid 4 percent. Add enough water (plastic shoe box) to soak your toes for 15 minutes. Warm water.


MMS, Zinc Oxide
Posted by Laura (Washington) on 08/28/2023

Bentonite clay will help draw the poison and heal.


MMS, Zinc Oxide
Posted by Gary (Kitchener On) on 08/26/2023

Hi Lee S.

You can make a paste out of Baking Soda and Hydrogen peroxide. Put a bandaid on it. 2 days should be back to normal.

God Bless

Gary


MMS, Zinc Oxide
Posted by Lee S. (IL) on 08/24/2023
★★★★☆

Hello, I was bitten by a brown recluse spider in late mid July. Quite scary at first with all the symptoms but made a nice recovery using oral MMS (sodium Chlorite solution) for a couple of weeks and topical 40% zinc oxide at bite site (base of my 2 middle toes on right foot) for 1st day. Energy back, gaining back lost weight and bite site fully healed and mostly normal skin color now. I am 66.

My question is now that I'm becoming more active I am still experiencing some swelling including those 2 toes and areas when active, especially when sitting or standing too long which causes some discomfort. When foot is elevated, things pretty much return to normal. What would you suggest topical product wise or something I could add when soaking my foot. I have been using a restrictive medical sock which does help. No fever or signs of infection. As I said bite sight has long healed over nicely. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Plantain
Posted by Vlaurie (Tallahassee, FL) on 04/28/2023
★★★★★

Years ago my husband got 2 brown recluse spider bites on his legs. I researched remedies, knowing drs. don't have an antidote and only treat for secondary infection. I read about plantain and found some at a local health food store. The largest had grown to about 3 inches diameter by the time I started applying the salve. Within a couple of days, the bites were healed.


Nutmeg
Posted by Elaine (Oklahoma) on 02/19/2022
★★★★★

I work in a school cafeteria. We have had the same gentleman exterminate our kitchen for years. One day he, another co-worker and I were chatting. He mentioned he had been bitten by a brown recluse a few years back. He was at a clients house when she noticed the bite. She asked him if she could try an old home remedy that was good for spider and insect bites. He agreed and she went to her kitchen and made a paste of flour and milk. She then proceeded to mix in nutmeg till it made a "tan" color. She applied the paste to the area and he went along his way. By the next morning he said all that was left was a pimple. No pain, swelling, redness, fever, nothing but the pimple.


Table Salt
Posted by Rob (Kentucky) on 12/06/2021

How to Make a Salt Compress for Spider Bites –

Version #1: Place 2 tbsp. of the table salts on to a folded up paper towel in a small bowl. Add spoonfuls of the hot water to the salt until it forms a paste like wet sugar. Apply the paste/compress onto the bite or insect bite/sting. Then soak a clean washcloth in very hot water; wring out. Place the hot cloth over the paste/compress on the bite. Resoak the cloth in hot water as needed to keep it hot. A hot water bottle works much better for this application. Continue for 30 minutes. The salt compress can be left in place all night by wrapping the compress with plastic-wrap and securing it with tape. Remove in the morning and examine the wound/bite area. Re-apply if needed.

Version #2: Mix two cups of table salt and two cups of very hot water (not boiling) in a medium-sized bowl. Mix until the salt dissolves. Once cooled to touch, soak a clean washcloth in the salt mixture; wring out. Place damp wet cloth on bite wound. Resoak the cloth as needed to keep it as hot as possible. Do this for 1 hour or leave it on all day. The salt compress can be left in place all night by wrapping the compress with plastic-wrap and securing it with tape. Remove in the morning and examine the wound/bite area. Re-apply if needed.


Table Salt
Posted by Teri (NV) on 12/06/2021

This one is a very vague answer. Like so I just go into my kitchen and sprinkle some table salt on the affected area and that's it? Do I dilute it with water first like Idk how this one would work due to the short explanation?


Multiple Remedies
Posted by Charles (Austin Tx) on 08/26/2021

what rife frequencies were you using?? I have a rife machine.


Cayenne
Posted by Ellen C. (United States) on 04/12/2020
★★★★★

Approximately eight hours after being bitten, I learned it was a brown recluse bite. I started using Cayenne Pepper poultices and had an immediate reduction in pain, and redness and swelling. I have been replacing the poultice 2x a day for about 3 weeks. It looks almost fully healed.

I've now started applying poultice once a day and adding lavender oil to help heal the area and the reaction my skin has had to the bandaids I've used to keep the poultice in place.


Pinon Pitch
Posted by Flower's Mom (Pueblo of Acoma, NM) on 07/31/2019
★★★★★

Pinon Pitch

For brown recluse spider bites, we have had success using pinon pitch applied directly to the site as well. Cover lightly with a bandage so the sticky sap does not get all over everything. It will draw the venom and toxins out and then you can continue with the other items you mention until it is fully healed.


Goldenseal Poultices
Posted by Adele B. (Salt Lake City) on 07/29/2019
★★★★☆

The bite of the brown recluse became purple in a short time. I had no idea what it was until about 12 hours later when a friend told me there were fang marks and little pustules.

I immediately put a GOLDENSEAL poultice on the area which was my cheek on the right side of my face. After that dried possibly 2 hours later I washed that off and made a poultice of salt with jojoba oil.

Added clay poultices, but now am doing mostly ACTIVATED CHARCOAL, GOLDENSEAL AND IN BETWEEN CBD OIL TO CALM THE HEAT AND FEED NUTRIENTS TO THE SKIN FOR HEALING, BUT THEN GOLDENSEAL DOES THIS ALSO. It continues to be hot and red is spreading after 9 days.

The bite site has gone from a golf ball size to a large pea. There is a tiny seepage pin holes from the bite area, but no breakage of the skin. My friends tell me it looks good and not to worry. I've been doing the poultices 24/7 and will continue until the red and bite site are completely gone. I never had any physical problems. Not even chills, but then I'm in good shape, my immune system is really strong, I'm not eating any sugar, white flour or fast food. Lots of fruit and veggies. No dairy or meat. I drink organic Ashwagandha and green tea.


Table Salt
Posted by William France (Tx) on 07/15/2020
★★★★★

Table salt is all you need to stop the effects from the bite of a brown recluse spider.

Zach's Brown Recluse Bite Treatment
Posted by Zach (Detroit, Mi) on 09/25/2018
★★★★★

Brown Recluse Bite Treatment

Around 7 years ago, I was bitten by a brown recluse spider. This was not the first time - the first time, I went to the hospital, where they gave me antibiotics and sent me home. This had approximately no effect on the bite. The venom continued to eat up the skin till I had about a four-inch round, 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep wound. I self-treated it with any home remedies I could think up, and nothing worked.

About a year later, I was again bitten by a brown recluse. I knew better than to go to the hospital (I'm not recommending that anyone not seek medical attention; I am simply stating my personal experience.) By now, I had done a lot of research on spider bites, and found out that the venom was oil-based, so I got to thinking what might neutralize the oil and draw it out.

I mixed together the recipe below, and applied it to the wound, which was about the size of a half-dollar and deeper than the first wound. This was about a week after the bite. I applied it to the bite and covered it with medical gauze. I changed the dressing and re-applied the paste about every 4 hours. In less than 24 hours, it quit hurting. About 3 days later, I noticed it healing, and discontinued the treatment. It formed a healthy soft scab within 2 weeks, and new, healthy skin within 4 weeks.

About 2 years ago, my dad was bitten by a brown recluse on his (bald) head. He had gone to the doctor and gotten antibiotics for it, which did no good for the wound. He showed me the wound when it was about 3 inches in diameter, and I could see his skull in places. I applied this recipe and covered it with gauze, and gave him the rest of the mixture so he could continue the treatment. Within 12 hours, the wound quit burning and tingling (brown recluse bites normally continue to burn and tingle). Within 24 hours, and swelling around the wound went down. He used it for the three days I'd recommended. By the third day, fresh scab was beginning to form and there was no more pus-filled discharge, just some clear serum and a little thin blood now and then. I applied only clean gauze to keep the area clean, and it was covered with healthy skin in about 3 months.

My Brown Recluse Spider Bite Treatment

  • About 16 aspirin, ground up
  • Enough 91% Isopropyl alcohol to make a paste
  • about 1/2 cap 3% hydrogen peroxide
  • 1 cap witch hazel
  • Calamine lotion unshaken, with most of the liquid portion poured off, about equal parts of the thick part mixed with the above
  • approximately one 2 oz tube triple antibiotic ointment

Let me know if you try this and your results!

Zach

(Necessary disclaimer: Use of this treatment is at your own risk. This treatment has not been scientifically verified, and I have to state here that it should not replace currently accepted medical treatment.)


Activated Charcoal, Turmeric, Sea Salt Paste
Posted by Freaking Out (Dothan, Alabama ) on 05/25/2018
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I was bitten 3 times by a brown recluse spider 2 days ago. I didn't realize what it was until the next day. One bite between my fingers was the worst bite and I was woken up several times throughout the first night with intense itching and swelling. Scratching in my sleep created a small opening to that bite. Swelling and pain continued. Everything that I read stated get medical treatment. I was at the 24 hour mark and from what I was reading, medical treatment at that point was treating the symptoms. Horrified at the pictures from this spider bite, I started looking at home remedies.

I am a soap maker and know that other treatments do in fact work with other issues. I came across several articles with plenty of remedies. By my experience and items on hand, I chose to make a paste to include activated charcoal.

I mixed 1/8 cup water, 1 tablespoon activated charcoal, 1 tablespoon of dead sea salt, and a little less than 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric.

I used a gauze pad and inserted about a tablespoon of the mixture in the middle and folded the gauze. Applied the gauze directly to the bites. It burned a little from the salt, but more bearable than the pain from the bite. I changed out the dressing after about 4 hours. The second dressing stayed on over night. The bite with the small opening responded best, of course that's the one that I also applied some of the paste directly on my skin. In between the dressings, I noticed that particular bite was forming a hard knot under the skin (which is why I added more paste).

By morning, most of the swelling is gone and the knot has also gone away. The other two bites are still sore and a little swollen so I will continue the process. They still have no direct opening, which is great due to the fact that normally they should be showing signs of infection coming out. The pain is definitely tolerable. I'm not sure if the small opening or me putting the paste directly on the bite with the worst symptoms made the difference in the healing. I would not recommend opening a bite for healing. I can live with the extra time and less complications to just keep applying the paste. I have definitely been amazed by some of the natural remedies that I have tried. This one possibly saved my hand from what could have happened. Two bites on my hand and one on my foot.


Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Marnie (Madera, Ca) on 02/09/2018

James, thanks for sharing this effective and simple remedy. I shall always keep some tea tree oil in my first aid kit.

How did your friends know the bite was from a brown recluse spider? Did the bites occur in Idaho? Just wondering because I'm going to be moving to Nampa :)


Tea Tree Oil
Posted by James (Nampa, Idaho) on 02/05/2018
★★★★★

This did not happen to me but was brought up in a conversation with a friend when talking about Earth Clinic. I noticed he was limping and I told him about ACV and how it had cured the pain in my knees and how I believed in natural remedies. He then told me he had been to a Doctor for a brown recluse spider bite on the inside of his groin and how it had festered up and full of puss. He told a veterinary friend about it and he told him to put tree tea oil on it and he did and it started to go down and went away. Later he incurred two more bites on his right arm and applied tree oil to those bites and they also went away. He said he had a phone call from a lady that was almost in tears as she had been bitten by a brown recluse spider on the foot and the doctor told her she would lose her foot. She had heard that he had been bitten and cured it. My friend and his wife took some tree tea oil to her and explained how it would probably take a month for it to completely heal and to call him. She called him just over a month and thanked him and said it was completely healed. I submitted this as I have seen nothing about tree tee oil for spider bites or other bites and thought it was to important and to get the word out. He applied the tree tea oil with a cotton ball to the bite and covered it with a bandage also with tree tea oil on it.

Treating Children with Recluse Bites
Posted by Mama To Many (Tn) on 05/30/2017
★★★★★

It is that time of year. One after another is getting a bite or sting that needs attention, including myself.

Last Thursday my 5 year old came in from playing outside crying because his side hurt. Something had bitten him and the skin was broken, red and swelling. It did not look like a sting or tick bite. Based on the way it looked and how it behaved, I am pretty sure it was a brown recluse spider bite. So, I dove into treatment. A friend had had success treating her child's recluse bite with Epsom Salt baths (4 a day! ) and a plaster of coconut oil and charcoal applied directly.

Here is what I did for my little guy:

Charcoal, flax, clay poultices. I put a fresh one on morning and evening with a couple of hours of breathing time between changes.

When the poultices were off, I would apply lavender essential oil or a drop of oregano oil diluted in a plantain salve.

2 Epsom Salt baths daily. 1 1/2 cups Epsom salt in each warm bath for 20-30 minutes with lots of bath toys to keep him entertained.

3-4 times a day I put 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric and a tiny pinch of pepper in 3 ounces of full fat milk. He drank that down and then I let him chase it with a spoonful of local, raw honey.

I gave him 1,000 mg of Vitamin C 4 x a day. That sounds like a lot of C but he never got loose stools, so I probably could have given him more.

Each time I put 1/4 teaspoon sodium ascorbate in a mug with 1/8 teaspoon baking soda and a teaspoon of raw honey into a mug. I called it honey soda and he drank it without question. :)

From the "get go" my little guy had some hives on other parts of his body. I did give him benadryl twice a day to deal with the hives. After 2 days he didn't have hives.

I watched him like a hawk for signs of infection or the need for medical help. But he felt fine and played normally and had no fever, chills or malaise.

Early intervention made a big difference. My friend who treated a recluse bite on her child didn't find out about the bite until it looked bad and it took a couple of weeks to treat. But she persevered and healed her little one.

Today my 8 year old pulled a tick off of his stomach. It is swelling and I have begun the same treatment I used for suspected recluse bite. Turmeric, Vitamin C, Poultices. Turmeric and C should reduce the risk of systemic infection. The poultices will draw out local infection.

Two adults in my house have had bee stings in the last few days. The same protocols are useful for us, too. I just give more C and turmeric to adults.

~Mama to Many~


Suction Cup Method, Multiple Remedies
Posted by Dave (Fountain Inn, Sc) on 08/07/2015

Johnny;

Re your cousin's Brown Recluse bite on top of heat...

BRO....YOU THE MAN!!!!!!

Really, you might have saved her life. The suction idea was brilliant. The use of Epsom salts was also brilliant. It is that kind of self help that just doesn't say; let the doctors do it...that can mean the difference in life or death.

Well done Doctor Johnny.


Suction Cup Method, Multiple Remedies
Posted by Johnny (Arnaudville, Louisiana) on 08/06/2015
★★★★★

My cousin way recently bitten by a recluse. Right in the top of her head. She went to the hospital and I had told her not too. I wanted her to let me treat her. They drilled a 1/8 inch hole into the head of the bite and squeezed it with their fingers to empty it like a boil. 2 days later the poison was going down her neck with swelling and redness and she is hallucinating, fever with severe heat at the bite site and she was in really in bad shape.

So I picked her up bring her to my house and opened the wound they drilled it was full of venom and her scalp dow to her skull about half dollar size with liquified flesh puss and a yellew to brown liquid and blood.

I squeezed it all out and filled a plastic bottle with equal parts Epsom salts and water. I bent her over squeezed the bottle half way leaving half air half liquid suctioned it to her head and had her sit up, then watched an oily brown yellow red substances rise to the top of the water. Within 30 mins, it drew the poison out. Because they left her with such a large hole, I stuck the entire end of a sterile qtip soaked in hydrogen peroxide in the hole and rotated it several times revealing dead pieces of skin from them lancing drilling what ever. I then went to my cleaning kit for wounds and cut away the dead skin.

Also, I cut the hair around the wound shaved it and started filling it with triple antibiotic ointment twice a day, also cleaning it with peroxide each time I put antibiotic and redressed it using surgical tape I cut into small pieces. Then used a non stick piece of bandaid pad I cut from bandaid to size to just fit tape and hole. You have to keep head shaved around bump for tape to stick and you also have to wait for it to stop leaking.

Use an absorbent sterile medical pad to dab wound softly after filling with triple antibiotic ointment. Went the oozing slowes apply- tape and pad you cut to make basically a butterfly with the pad. Do not close wound like you would with butterfly for 3 to 4 days, until the oozing stops, then close it by pulling the tape just like a butterfly change daily and lean around it with peroxide when you change tape. It took me four days.

The wound / bite is closed and healing well and I've removed tape. The hole is closed and no more leakage and wound is no longer infected.

This was a really bad bad case and if you don't have knowledge to do this, try to find a nurse, or a paramedic from fire department willing to help. My cousin was a licenced nurse and paramedic and he taught me some things. I still have the bottle with the venom and the poison still floating on top separated.. I hope if you're ever in this kind of situation you're blessed with someone who will help at the hospital.

Multiple Remedies
Posted by Nancy (New Mexico) on 07/23/2015
★★★★★

My husband has been bitten twice by a brown. His first bite was between two toes and as the "SPECIALIST" was not available here for a week, he went to our house and hospital in Denver. Again, the ONLY specialist was not available for a week (all must have been at a convention to learn what to do!!! ). Well, as he was driving to Denver, I hit the Google button and developed a protocol, which by the way relied heavily on my Rife therapy. When he arrived a day &1/2 later, the venom reddened his leg up to the knee. To the newly opened hospital and after 3 hours, everyone had never seen this, several took pictures and gave him an antibiotic, then said he would need to see the out of town specialist. In disgust, we left and I went to work.

Here is the long of it: Slathered the entire leg and foot with straight lavender oil (read it neutralizes the gangrene affect of the venom);

Applied straight basil oil to the wound;

Applied an activated charcoal poultice over the wound and bandaged it (local clinic did give him the kit, which can and should be ordered online);

Then, I made him lie on the couch with the leg elevated, put headsets on the leg attached to my computer download and ran the rife program for brown recluse bite, one frequency at a time.

Well, the next morning the infection had gone down to his ankle. We continued this until he saw the specialist, WHO WAS STUNNED AND WANTED TO KNOW WHAT HE DID! At his follow-up appointment, a new nurse wanted to know how he healed it (it now was a localizes blister and was cut out). THE SPECIALIST SAID TO MY HUSBAND "TELL HER WHAT YOU DID. TELL HER WHAT YOU DID!!


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