So on Saturday I was out in my friend's yard in Charleston, when I felt a painful bite on my leg. I didn't feel or see anything crawling on my leg, so I think it was a fly of some kind. The bite hurt a few hours, and since then the red itchy area has been growing. It's now about the size of the palm of my hand. I also started seeing some bluish tint near the original bite today, which got me worried.

Should I see a real doctor? Could it be a poisonous spider? Or should I just wait it out cause the doc is just gonna charge $150 and tell me to wait it out. Thanks!

9/2/2013 9:46:02 AM

i would take some denadryll and some nude pics and then post them on tww. always works for me.

9/2/2013 9:50:15 AM

Mark the blue spot. If it spreads go to the doctor. If you start to see rotting flesh go to the doctor.

9/2/2013 10:02:20 AM

if you start to crave BRAINNNNNNNNZ, then i'd see a doctor

9/2/2013 10:26:55 AM

So, reasons to see the doctor:

1. Blue spot spreads
2. Rotting flesh
3. Taste for brains

9/2/2013 10:28:58 AM

just rub some Tussin on it



but for real read about brown recluse spider bites because that would be the only thing I would be worried about

9/2/2013 10:42:53 AM

looks like a horse fly bite to me

9/2/2013 10:43:13 AM

hey Nerdchick what does the rash smell like?

9/2/2013 12:15:40 PM

If the skin gets very hot, go to the doctor asap.

9/2/2013 12:17:23 PM

Reasons to Go to Doctor

1. Blue mark spreads
2. Rotting flesh
3. Taste for brains
4. Skin gets hot

9/2/2013 12:48:43 PM

AIDS bug bite

9/2/2013 1:49:50 PM

Ok, no craving for brains so far. But the day is young!!

9/2/2013 2:50:55 PM

You out of the Navy now?

9/2/2013 2:57:44 PM

Yeah I have been out since January. No more free Dr visits

9/2/2013 3:02:58 PM

why did you quit the navy

9/2/2013 3:11:12 PM

My 4 years were up and I wanted to do my own thing, rather than re-enlisting. None of my career options in the Navy appealed to me.

9/2/2013 3:15:23 PM

shave yo legs

9/2/2013 3:37:50 PM

Don't bother shaving. Your leg is going to rot off.

9/2/2013 3:49:45 PM

That's from the Diabeetus Bug

9/2/2013 3:56:01 PM

Buncha quacks ITT.

9/2/2013 4:24:53 PM

all so far is sound advice. no need to go to the DR yet. Take some benedryll and stay hydrated. Use a pen to approximate the edges (draw a circle around the redness) if it spreads past that significantly, or if you get red streaking going up your leg, go see a Dr. If the spot where the bite is becomes black or pitted, also see a doctor.

elevate leg, ice to area (15min on 45min off 4-5 times a day), etc etc

9/2/2013 4:25:14 PM

Yet another reason why nothing good happens in South Carolina.

9/2/2013 6:55:18 PM

False, the low country is awesome. That's it, though-the rest of it sucks.

9/2/2013 11:46:15 PM

Is it hard? If it's hard to the touch, you'll need to see a doctor... it might be erythema nodosum, which is sometimes a symptom of something larger.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythema_nodosum

Or it could be just a bug bite.

9/2/2013 11:59:39 PM

Thanks for the advice, guys! Good news, the bite is much better today. But I am starting to wonder why we have such prejudice against eating brains. I think they would be a tasty and nourishing food.

9/3/2013 11:17:20 AM

9/3/2013 11:37:49 AM

eating brains is cool, just don't eat brains of your own species. otherwise you'll end up with kuru or creutzfeldt-jakob disease or some other cool spongiform encephalopathy.

9/3/2013 11:52:46 AM

^... or squirrel brains

Quote :

"In the last four years, 11 cases of a human form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, have been diagnosed in rural western Kentucky, said Dr. Erick Weisman, clinical director of the Neurobehavioral Institute in Hartford, Ky., where the patients were treated. ''All of them were squirrel-brain eaters,'' Dr. Weisman said. Of the 11 patients, at least 6 have died."

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/29/us/kentucky-doctors-warn-against-a-regional-dish-squirrels-brains.html

9/3/2013 11:55:38 AM

awesome.

i eat pig brains. i think i'm pretty safe.

also i probably wouldn't eat deer brains.

[Edited on September 3, 2013 at 12:05 PM. Reason : .]

9/3/2013 12:01:00 PM

That looks like what happens when I get a wasp sting (like a yellow jacket). Did the bite/sting feel like it was stinging for a bit (~hour) after it happened?

9/3/2013 12:18:10 PM

pig brains have about or 1,200% of your daily intake of cholesterol. gross.

9/3/2013 12:22:50 PM

i eat pure cholesterol with a spoon.

9/3/2013 12:23:50 PM

Quote :

"i eat pig brains. i think i'm pretty safe."

pigs can give you some pretty bad parasites too, especially wild hogs

9/3/2013 12:24:06 PM

NCSUHippie, it was painful for a while after! Maybe it could be a wasp.

But now all I can think about is brains, sweet sweet braaaaaains

[Edited on September 3, 2013 at 12:27 PM. Reason : Brrrrraaaaaiiiinnnns]

9/3/2013 12:27:12 PM

my bets are on a biting fly, they are little tricky bastards, especially here in the south (charleston I know has some gnarly ones; horse flies for example) but I could be wrong.

9/3/2013 12:29:27 PM

Yellow jacket stings are very unpleasant for me. They sting/burn for a bit well after the sting itself. Then it gets really swollen, red and super itchy for a few days. Sometimes I get a little bit of bruising. I would put my money on a wasp if if was anything like that.

Typically biting flies don't hurt as much because of the way they bite. The longer you leave them on you, the more it will hurt. But I don't think any biting fly that was only on you for a second will do that much damage.

9/3/2013 12:40:37 PM

yes biting flies can and will bite you very quickly before you even have time to react, and it is quite painful because of the way their mouthparts are setup. Their goal is to be in and out as quickly as possible because they depend on the juices that they gather from you to reproduce and live.

As for wasps, depending on where you were sitting, like on a nest, they could have defensively stung you, but they don't do quick attacks typically, they will 'size up' whatever is bothering them. Wasps have no reason, other than defense, to sting you.

that is why I would still say fly.


[Edited on September 3, 2013 at 12:51 PM. Reason : but it could always be a wasp, so what do I know, next time get a better look at the perp]

9/3/2013 12:41:47 PM

yeah I have never been stung by a wasp/hornet and not seen it trying to sting me again. I would also assume something horseflyish.

9/3/2013 12:53:18 PM