Oh, my, Grannybing, I hope this isn't practical knowledge you're
looking for!
In the unlikely event that it is, hie thee to a medical professional.
Brown recluse bites, as you may already know, are extremely poisonous,
remarkably unattractive, and even potentially fatal.
But, if only to keep me out of the nervous hospital, I'll assume
you're asking out of curiosity.
The short answer is that I couldn't find direct evidence of precisely
this injury, but I was able to locate several sources that claimed it
as credible, and a great deal of information on various and sundry
pests in ears, one listing of a black widow bite to the ear, and lots
of horrific pictures of brown recluse bites. And my guess is that yes,
this has happened at some point, but it was likely undiagnosed or
simply isn't documented on the web in such a way that I was able to
locate it.
The first thing your question puts me in mind of is the urban legends
involving insects and spiders that crawl into people's ears, then eat
their way through the brain and out the other ear and/or lay eggs
inside the hapless victim's head. This indeed has happened to many an
imaginary friend of a friend, and more often than not, results in grim
pronouncements from equally imaginary physicians.
A search on this site on terms such as "spider" "bite" "insect" and
"ear" will result in many spine-tingling tales, mostly false, none
directly involving a brown recluse bite in the ear:
http://www.snopes.com
But this is an aside, and doesn't directly address your question.
R. Ellwood Jones, MD, mentions this as a possibility in this case:
http://www.baylorhealth.com/proceedings/14_2/14_2_CPC.htm
From this article, about a man presenting with what he claims to be a
centipede bite in his ear:
"In the case presented today, it is obvious that the patient has an
infection. Considering his history, however, one might ask if the
reaction could have been caused by a brown recluse spider that entered
his ear and envenomated him. That's a possibility, but his lack of
systemic symptoms early on and of the characteristic eschar at this
time argue against a brown recluse spider bite. "
He then argues first for, then against, the case for the injury being
due to a pit viper bite. It's a regular emotional rollercoaster with
this Dr. Jones.
A Google search on - "brown recluse" bite ear - resulted in this
somewhat disturbing site, although none of the 'face' incidents
involve the ear, and no valid results are returned on a search for
'ear'. (Note that this site contains some pictures of brown recluse
bites, including one very icky one on the main page, so don't go to
this site if you don't want to look at necrotic tissue):
http://www.highway60.com/mark/brs/default.htm
This page on the same site provides statistics on the reported bites
by body part. (No pictures on this page!):
http://www.highway60.com/mark/brs/reports.asp?Report=BPC
And this page provides a helpful description of the brown recluse:
http://www.ohsuhealth.com/ntrauma/spider.asp?sub=1
From this page:
"What is a brown recluse spider?
The brown recluse spider, or violin spider, is about 1 inch long and
has a violin shaped mark on its upper back. It is often found in warm,
dry climates and prefers to stay in undisturbed areas such as
basements, closets, and attics. It is not an aggressive spider, but
will attack if trapped or held against the skin. No deaths have been
reported in the US from a brown recluse bite."
From this description, a brown recluse will attack if trapped or held
against the skin. As such, it would seem likely that sometime,
somewhere, a brown recluse has found its way into someone's ear, where
said spider would be both trapped and held against the skin, and as
such, would likely bite.
But according to this page, it would be difficult to diagnose a bite
as being from a brown recluse after the fact, whether in the ear or
elsewhere:
http://www.emedicine.com/EMERG/topic547.htm
From this page:
"Data regarding mortality rates are not reliable because diagnostic
tests to detect brown recluse venom in tissue are not readily
available."
And this page claims that insect bites to the ear would require more
urgent care than bites to other areas:
http://askdrsears.com/html/10/T110210.asp
From this page:
"Bites on the ear - the cartilage in the ear is more susceptible to
becoming infected from an insect bite. Follow the precautions as above
to prevent infection, but also be sure to use warm soaks from the
start (instead of only if an infection sets in). If it does become
infected, see your doctor. You may need antibiotics sooner than normal
bites."
Page 2 of this PDF document shows the results of a black widow bite to
the ear of a 75 year old man, who showed the symptoms "Local pain,
erythema, swelling; normal vital signs":
www.kfshrc.edu.sa/annals/191/98-171.pdf
And this page provides us with many fun facts, tangentially related to
your question:
http://www.pestweb.com/stanley/bull5.html
"1. A physician is most likely to find what insect in a child's ear?"
...
" 1. Cockroaches. In one study of 134 foreign objects found in
children's ears, 27 were insects, and 21 (78%) of these were
cockroaches. Maybe mom should have told us to wash our ears as well as
behind them!"
But still no direct mention of a brown recluse bite to the ear.
I'm sorry, Granny Bing, that I wasn't able to provide you with a
definitive answer, either in the form of a "No, it would never happen
because..." or a "Yes, and here are the gory details."
As it stands, though, my best answer is "Probably," and the patient
would likely lose the ear due to the increased vulnerability of the
ear and the small area by which the ear is attached.
Lisa, not currently a member of the Cryptic Mafia.
Search Terms:
bite brown recluse ear
spider bite ear
"brown recluse" bite location
PS: When I first brought my dog home, the mood was still relatively
somber due to the recent death of my previous dog. While everyone was
happy with the new addition to the family, an aura of gloom and
melancholy still lurked in the corners and crept into the silences.
That night, settling down for the evening, I invited my new dog to
come up and sit on the couch with me. He did, and, with a bellyfull of
homemade vegetable soup and a crackling fire in the fireplace, he fell
asleep quickly and deeply. I was dozing off myself, but was aroused
just in time to see my poor doggie slide right off the couch and land
with a thud onto the floor, halfway under the coffee table. He was
startled at first, and I was overcome with competing impulses to laugh
and to come to his aid. Eventually, I managed to move the coffee table
away and help him to his feet. Then, I was able to just let go and
laugh. It seems that my laughing was pretty much His Goal in Life. He
was beside himself, wagging his tail and running around happily. He
then climbed back onto the couch, lay back down, and intentionally
rolled himself back off onto the floor, only to right himself again,
run his joyous victory lap, and do it again. After about the fourth
time, I finally made him stop, but he still tells me little jokes like
that when he wants to cheer me up. |
