http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Forest/2021/recluse/intro.html (can someone make this hot)
Don't know if is this is new information but this seemed so important I had to post it. Transdermal Nitroglycerine Patches, usually used for angina pain, can prevent and can even reverse the massive tissue destruction from the bite. I know this has been a big topic on here and for folks in the south. Anyway, check out the link and pass it on. Here's an excerpt:
"The etiology is the powerful, vasoconstricting properties of the venom, as the mechanism of necrotic arachnidism, which causes the smail arteries to spasm with resultant loss of blood supply to the bite area. This sets up a cycle of ulceration and tissue loss through ischemia and gangrene. Systemic medication alone is unable to penetrate the lesion because of the barrier zone produced by the spastic occlusion of the arteries.
However...a nitroglycerin patch can penetrate through the skin, into the interstitial fluid and into the capillaries, rapidly dilating the vessels. This is evidenced by the quick onset of a nitroglycerin headache as circulation into the occluded area is re-established from the edges inward. The pathologic process ceases and healing begins. When a nitro patch is administered early, as in the first 48 hours, no lesion ever develops! Delay treatment three to four weeks and a 5 cm ulcer will develop, requiring three months of treatment with the nitroglycerin patches. Even with delayed treatment, however, the degenerative process is reversed. The body heals itself. There is no need for surgery with its debilitating effects, potential complications and severe scarring. "