[sudzs]

I was walking home after a swim in the local outdoor pool and my hand suddenly went a bit numb with pins and needles. Didn't think much of it until I got home and I got a terrible itch on the same hand. Had a scratch and it swelled up and went puce around a bite mark and the pins and needles got worse, hand got numb and I could feel it spreading up my arm.

So I lashed on the Teatree oil, took an antihistamine and flew up to the local hospital A&E thinking I was going to die. Thankfully the triage nurse didn't think I was going to die and by the time I was brought through to be seen it was beginning to feel not so bad at all.

All the doc could say was that it was some sort of an insect bite and to put an icepack on it and to keep an eye on it for the next few days.

So anyone have any ides what could have bitten me? The only thing I noticed before the bite, was some ants around the changing room floor.

What insect bites cause numbness and tingling? Or do different people react differently?

Feel like a bit of an eejit now though and that I wasted their time at the hospital.

But great service all the same in a small town hospital... and lovely people, 10 out of 10!

[Zambia]

Any Photos sounds like a white tail Spider.

[Peregrinus]

You're in WA? Sounds like a redback spider to me. Outdoor pools are the kind of places you find them - they like the damp, and there are lots of corners and crannies under benches or around the plant housing where they can lurk. They like shadows and they're quite small and dark, so they are easy not to see. They are at their most active (and aggressive) in the afternoon and evening; what time of the day were you attacked?

You were right to seek medical attention. If your symptoms hadn't been receding by time the doctor saw you, he would have given you antivenom. Since this is given intramuscularly, be glad you didn't have to have it; it makes sitting down a fairly tender business for quite some time.

Nobody has died from a redback bite for about fifty years or so, and most do not require any treatment beyond local pain relief.

[sudzs]

Originally Posted by Zambia

Any Photos sounds like a white tail Spider.

Photos?? Of moi?!! Or just the bite?

Originally Posted by Peregrinus

You're in WA? Sounds like a redback spider to me. Outdoor pools are the kind of places you find them - they like the damp, and there are lots of corners and crannies under benches or around the plant housing where they can lurk. They like shadows and they're quite small and dark, so they are easy not to see. They are at their most active (and aggressive) in the afternoon and evening; what time of the day were you attacked?

It happened at around 1pm. I didn't see what bit me but the doc said it didn't look like a Redback bite. It's on the back of my hand so I think I would have seen a spider there but then again I'm out of practice in the pool so am a bit wrecked after a swim so I could have missed one...

You were right to seek medical attention. If your symptoms hadn't been receding by time the doctor saw you, he would have given you antivenom. Since this is given intramuscularly, be glad you didn't have to have it; it makes sitting down a fairly tender business for quite some time.

Glad to hear that!

[Zambia]

Originally Posted by sudzs

Photos?? Of moi?!! Or just the bite?

Just the bite Princess

[sudzs]

Originally Posted by Zambia

Just the bite Princess

Will try to get a pic but it really isn't very spectacular as it has been under ice and gone down a bit. And most of the numbness is gone now too.

[Zambia]

Originally Posted by sudzs

Will try to get a pic but it really isn't very spectacular as it has been under ice and gone down a bit. And most of the numbness is gone now too.

Feel a bit cheated now ....

[sudzs]

Originally Posted by Zambia

Feel a bit cheated now ....

Don't think I'll post the pic as you will feel not only cheated but downright lied to!!

It is quite pathetic now after all the drama it caused earlier!

[ellaq]

You probably just reacted to an ant bite. I stood on the grass a few weeks ago and my foot felt like it had been sliced. I couldn't see anything around and I have had reactions to the grass over here before. What type of ant was it? Some of those tiny little ones have a nasty nip. I have had a reaction before to those flying ants, last time was on my back.

[Mellor]

Could of been a poisonous spider bite.

Or could of jsut been a reactino to a plain old insect bite. I've had an ankle swell form a reactino to a insect bite (i think it was a mossie, but could of been anything like that)

[Jumpy]

Most likely a march fly.

[sudzs]

Originally Posted by ellaq

You probably just reacted to an ant bite. I stood on the grass a few weeks ago and my foot felt like it had been sliced. I couldn't see anything around and I have had reactions to the grass over here before. What type of ant was it? Some of those tiny little ones have a nasty nip. I have had a reaction before to those flying ants, last time was on my back.

They were small ants!! Can't tell you more than that a it's a dark dingy changing room and i'd just come in from blazing sun and no specs either!!

Originally Posted by Mellor

Could of been a poisonous spider bite.

Or could of jsut been a reactino to a plain old insect bite. I've had an ankle swell form a reactino to a insect bite (i think it was a mossie, but could of been anything like that)

I'm still none the wiser as to what bit me. The bite itself has gone down but still a little sore. But my hand and wrist are still feeling a bit fuzzy - slightly numb, pins 'n needles sort of feeling. It is slight, but annoying... should I go back to the doc or just wait for it to get better? It's probably nothing...right??!!

God I must sound like a right hypocondriac!!!


....and thanks all for the replies.