How To Treat Insect & Spider Bites

At first, individuals realizing they received an insect or spider bite might be a surprise. This is especially true if they didn't feel the bite when it initially occurred. In fact, they may not notice they were bitten at all until they scratch and suddenly cause inflammation. Spider bites, in particular, can come with a few symptoms that are a bit more noticeable. While it is typically easiest if the individual can see the actual spider that bit them to determine if it was poisonous or not, they can usually tell if a spider bit them by the following symptoms: swelling, a red welt, skin damage, itching, or pain. For non-poisonous bites, look for easy treatments to deal with some of the irritation that comes from a bite.

Ice The Infected Area

The idea behind icing an area is to reduce inflammation. As such, when individuals ice the infected area, they're basically keeping the infected area from growing and traveling to other parts of their body. Icing can also help reduce the amount of swelling and stop the bleeding. Because the cold restricts blood circulation and blood flow, it can help numb the pain from the bite and reduce the bruising that occurs. Most effective is to take ice from the freezer and wrap it in a cloth, then hold it against the infected area.

Apply A Cold Compress

It's also easy to make a cold compress from household items. In the event individuals don't have any ice packs at home or in an emergency kit, they can take ice or frozen vegetables, wrap them in a cloth or plastic bag, and then hold the cloth against the area. This should be done ten minutes at a time, and then the compress should be removed for a short time, before compressing again. It's best not press ice directly to the skin as it can stick and actually hurt. Individuals should also be sure to wait two hours between compressions to avoid injuring the rest of their body. They should also dry the area they held the compress against with a towel once they've finished. Applying a cold compress is similar to icing except individuals are not just icing, they are also compressing the area.