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progunr · Jul 30, 2008, 03:33 PM

Hey guys and gals,

My wife and I are avid hikers and outdoor activity nuts.

We take precautions against ticks, chiggers, and misquotes with good quality repellents and proper clothing.

About a week ago, she thought she got a misquote bite on her forearm.

The bite spot itself, was about the size of a quarter, and the next day, appeared to be almost a triangle shaped bite in the center of the red, quarter sized red spot.

It was more swollen than any mosquito bite I'd ever seen, and after two days, you could tell the forearm was even more swollen than before.

She applied ice, used several insect bite creams and ointments along with some calamine lotion.

Now, the swelling has gone away, but the area around the bite is a little discolored, kind of a light purple hue and there is a lump, about an inch long, and about a quarter of an inch wide, just under the skin, about 3 or 4 inches up from the actual bite location.

There is no pain or itching now, just the discoloration and this weird little lump.

Is there some type of insect that would actually burrow into her arm? And that could still be there, under the skin, doing some type of damage?

It is almost impossible for me to get her to go to a doctor, she refuses to go until such time as it would be considered an emergency.

I've never seen any bug bite react in this way and have no idea what it could be?

J_9 · Jul 30, 2008, 03:36 PM

Sounds to me like a possible spider bite. It's probably not a brown recluse as she would be in immense pain right now.

I'd just keep it clean with some triple antibiotic ointment for right now. If it gets any worse, she may need a round of antibiotics.

progunr · Jul 30, 2008, 03:41 PM

I thought about a spider as well, but that wouldn't explain this weird little lump under the skin?

It seems rather "firm" and if you grasp it between two fingers, you can kind of roll it around?

It does not feel like a blister or puss pocket, it almost feels like a foreign object of some kind inside her arm?

Could it be some type of blood clot, or would the spider venom produce such a lump?

Thanks for your reply.

J_9 · Jul 30, 2008, 03:52 PM

Does it feel like a little pea under the skin?

progunr · Jul 30, 2008, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by J_9

Does it feel like a little pea under the skin?

Not really.

It is about an inch long and about a quarter an inch wide and is not uniform from one end to the other.

One part of it may be close to the pea size, but is longer and kind of lumpy feeling as you move from the top to the bottom of the lump.

J_9 · Jul 30, 2008, 04:07 PM

Hmm, this is interesting. It may be necessary to get her in to have this removed.

progunr · Jul 30, 2008, 04:27 PM

That's what I told her, hopefully when I can show her that someone else thinks it would be a good idea to get it checked out too, she will be more easily persuaded to go.

Thank you again!

J_9 · Jul 30, 2008, 04:32 PM

You can try this scenario, don't know if it'll work, but...

I watch Discovery Health ALL the time, I am addicted to one show in particular.. Mystery Diagnosis.

I have seen episodes where spiders have laid eggs under a man's skin... another where a lady complained that she felt bugs in her scalp, and sure enough, there were about 10 - 15 little worms pulled out of her scalp.

While these are rare occurrences, it does show that these things sometimes do happen.

KissMe10der · Jul 30, 2008, 04:44 PM

Im not sure what a tick bite would look like... but I know my BF bruised up pretty bad.

Have it checked out he had let it go cause he didn't notice it... with him working so much. But now he has lots of problems with lymes.

redmam7 · Nov 24, 2010, 11:52 AM

This same thing happened to me when hiking with my husband in NW Florida. I felt a sharp sting/bite on my upper arm and had a huge red itchy welt for days that eventually turned purple/red like a bruise. I experienced a lot of aching pain in my arm that was pretty severe. I even had a few instances of fever and dizzyness the days following the bite. I just kept it clean, iced and took advil for the pain. Eventually it healed and my arm was back to normal within a couple of weeks. About a 3-4 weeks later I noticed a small pea sized hard lump under my skin a few inches away from the bite. After obsessing over it for a while I decided to sqeeze it out of the pore it was under and this hard little white ball came out. It was about the size of a bebe and as hard as pastic.