Could This Be a Bite?

Whether it is a bite, an ingrown hair, a scratch, or an clogged pore, the first thing I would try is soak a washcloth in hot epsom salt water (epsom salt is available at most stores, and it's CHEAP) and hold it as a compress on the 'pimple' 4-5 times a day for 5-10 minutes each time. You can re-heat and re-use the same water several times.

Dawn,

This sounds more like a boil. Put warm compresses on it and eventually it will drain. I would cover it with a bandage while it's draining too.

M.

Did the puss come out of the bite? Did it swell up and ooze out again? My daughter had one and I ignored it (pushing the puss out, treating it with creams, thinking it would go away). Then she got another bug bite and it started to do the same. We realized that because the first was infected then the infection was spreading to any open wound she had. An antibiotic cleared everything up quickly. I would take her to the doctor.

One thing that I didn't see mentioned is a tick bite. My dad and grandmother both got lyme's disease from a tick bite and the site looked very similar to what you described. For some reason a lot of doctors don't believe that NC has the lyme's carrying ticks but we do. The only thing to take care of it is a 30 day dose of doxycycline. Lyme's can be quite serious and can cause other health problems. There is a blood test but it is not very acurate--80% false negative! So if you suspect that it is a tick bite (this particular tick is very tiny--almost too small to see with the naked eye and is almost flesh color) it is best to be treated. Usually you will see a bull's eye rash around the bite within about 30 days of the bite. Hope everything is okay.

This sounds unfortunately like an abscess/cellulitis.It is not real unusual beleive it or not,somne of these areas do grow MRSA per cultures howwever.
I am ped nurse and Mom of 2 and it is advisable to take the baby to the doc.He may need an incision and drainage followed with antibiotics either by mouth or intraveinously.Good Luck!

Hi,

I would definitely have the pediatrician take a look at it. It sounds like MRSA to me. We dealt with staf when my son was a newborn. It seems to just hang around and is very difficult to get rid of. It may not be, but it never hurts to check.

Good Luck!

it very well could be. basically it sounds like a mild allergic reaction. my DS gets them if he gets bit by an ant, and so do I. they have never been of any major concern for us, but make sure you watch that it doesn't increase in size. My firend (a nurse) told me to always take a ball point pen and draw on th eedge of the redness or sewling and make or right down the time/date so you can track the swelling. If it increases defianly take to the PEDS and see what they say.

gk

Dawn, Where do you live? If you live in the Southeast where Fireants are abundant; then it might be what bited him. My mom had a problem with them biting my sister and myself. Our old Country Doctor who was a member of Daddy's church told Mom to pop it and dab some Hydrogen Perodixe on it then spray it with Benadryl or an another antibiotic. Daddy used to find the hills and tried everything to get rid of them but back them they had nothing to get rid of them. Sometime, you won't feel them bite you so maybe that is why your son didn't cry out. Alsogo to the hardware or agriculture center to see how you can get rid of them. I do know that they have products to get rid of the pests now

Shari of Asheville, NC

I would take him in because you are his mom and you now him better than anyone else. If it is bugging him he needs it checked out. Spider bites are nothing to play with.

i would have the ped look at it

Definitely call and at least talk to the nurses on staff! Bug bites don't puss up like that and if it's sore to touch and looks the way you say, it could be infected, or worse yet MRSA. I've heard of little kids getting MRSA, so don't hesitate. Don't worry about being one of those moms, GO!!!

A. B

Call the doctor's office and describe it, they will know better (especially for your area) if you need to come in and have the doctor look at it. Good luck!

Dawn:

Don't wait on this one...take him to see the doctor...it could be the MERSA virus. My granddaughter had a similar spot on her rear end and it grew much worse with each passing day. We found out she had MERSA...it's very dangerous and hard to find an antibiotic that works on the virus. Better to get it checked out and rule out this virus.

Good luck,

K. H.

It might be a red ant bite. My daughter had them last year on her feet and by your description matches what my daughters bite was.

Good Luck!

L.

Dawn, call tomorrow and get an appt. Let them know what it looks like. I would be more concerned with it being an actual spider bite than MRSA. MRSA is only scary because it's so hard to get rid of, not necessarily because it's dangerous. Antibiotics will still take care of it, you just have to be sure to take them correctly and COMPLETELY!!! It could just be a spider bite that needs to be checked. He'll be very unhappy with the doctor but it needs to be checked and soon. Hope he does ok and way to watch!!

It could be a brown recluse spider bite, which can be very dangerous. I would go to the doctor right away.

Also, put some brown mouthwash on it (Listerine or another brand). Get a bandaid and put a little mouthwash on the cloth part of the bandaid and place it over the bite. It can't hurt and, for us, it often melted away the bite.

Defantly take him into see his ped. When I was reading your story before I read your husband had MRSA I was thinking that is what it sounds like your little one has. I am a nurse and have worked peds for 10 years now. Plus have worked with adults who have had MRSA and from what you are describing the chance is that is what he has. Especialy since he has also been exposed to the infection. Better to be safe than sorry when it comes to the little ones....

Good Luck! :-)

It is very likely that the pimple is staph ... especially if it was in your house from your husband. it can be easily spread and requires thorough house cleaning with bleach (hard surfaces, towels, sheets, clothes) and LOTS of handwashing. Staph can range from mild normal pimples to giant boils (sounds like this might be a boil) to deadly internal infections if it spreads to the blood. Normally, i would say it's probably just a boil and put warm compresses on it until it drains itself, keep it covered, do NOT pop it, and wash hands a ton ... BUT since your husband had MRSA and not your run of the mill staph just recently, go to the doctor and get it checked out. a quick trip to the dr and a copay is much easier and safer than something terrible happening that you regret for the rest of your life. doctors are use to moms being "safer than sorry" if you know what i mean. they are getting paid for it and are there to help. good luck

Sounds like a bee sting...but i would get it checked out..you never know...especially the pus part..that usually means infection

MRSA is very contagious as well as dangerous. I would take the little guy for a culture just to be safe...asap.

Hey. On something concerning you that it could be a bite, it pays to worry. If it hasn't lost the redness by morning, you should call your doctor. I had a fiddleback or brown recluse bite a couple years back that started w/ a red spot, pus center. Thanks to a staph infection from it, I had a rash that spread from my knee up to my stomach by the time I got to the doctor the next day (severe pain). The doctor tested me for anthrax (during the letter scare). I had a good laugh out of that one. It's never a bad thing to have it checked out by the ped. Better to be safe than sorry. Hope he's feeling better.

You need to take him to the doctor as it could very well be mercer infection which is not rare and can be dangerous. It starts out as a red ringed pimple as you described. It could be a bite but a doctor could rule out mercer before it can get worse. A little boy in my church had the same kind of area on his buttock and had to have surgery to remove a pretty good size "chunk" to get all the infection out. Another young man in our church had a pimple on his shoulder that turned out to be mercer and had to have surgery also. Don't mess with it just get an all clear from the doc.

M.

Yes, please take him to a doctor, even if it's not MRSA and it is a bug bite, spdier bites can start off looking like that and necrotize, which can be almost as bad! Given your husband had a bout with it and it's highly contagious, but neosporin on the bite instead of Benedryl. The pus is either infection or a collection of white blood cells fighting venom.

sounds like what my son had a few weeks ago, it kept getting bigger and i eventually did take him to the doctor because it seemed to hurt so bad. it was also on his thigh and ended up being an ingrown hair. they prescribed bactrim cream, warm compresses, baths and eventually and bactroban orally because it got so infected. after about a week it popped on it's own and blood and pus squirted out. i would try the compresses and baths and see if it pops if not you might need meds too. good luck, good news is hopefully it is not anything serious either

Hi Dawn,

One of my daughters had a bite similar to that last year and it turned out to be a regular old bite that had gotten infected (a staff infection) and required and antibotic to get rid of it. If it is getting bigger or not any better with benadryl -I would take him to the Dr.

Hope this helps.

A little about me:

I am 40 with 3 children and just resigned from being the CEO of a large real estate company 6 weeks ago. Yesterday was my first day of freedom. I am now building my own business. I have partnered with the Doctors who created Proactive and am helping to take Rodan and Fields skin care lines for aging and sun damange nationwide. My husband and I are excited about this new chapter in our lives.

A. C

I'm dealing with a similar situation. My daughter was bit by something Friday night and Saturday there was a not on her leg with a raised red rash that she sd. itched. By Sunday in it's place was a blister. I too, put Benadryl cream on it and she went to the pediatrician yesterday. She wasn't able to see her regular doctor and the one that she saw sd. that she was burned. Needless to say, I know that's not true becuase I saw the blisters origin...she is going back Thursday to see her regular pediatrician. I was very concerned, but even more so now after your husband's experience.

I would definetely get it checked as long as his pediatrician isn't the one that my daughter saw yesterday.

If the bite is hard and red and the swelling is not going down it may turn into a cellulite infection. This is a very serious infection and when my daughter had it they wanted to admitt her to the hospital. She was on so much antibotics that 2 pharm techs had to check it before they would give it to me.

If the welt starts to grow out in any irregualr pattern take him to the ER right away.

Dawn,

I agree with all the other responses you've gotten but wanted to share my experience with you as well. Our situation ended up a little different. My daughter was bitten by a mosquito and three days later, it looked like what you're describing. It was red, swollen, with a hard knot under the welt. It was also very, very warm and tender to the touch. I took her to the doctor and it turned out she's developing an allergic reaction to bug bites. Fortunately, it's not severe enough to require carrying an Epi-Pen (adrenaline injection) but the doctor did prescribe something (a dissolvable pill) to give her whenever she gets a bug bite. He said since we caught it early, she'll likely outgrow the allergy. He also said if we had waited any longer, it might have developed into a full-blown allergy with resulting anaphylactic response. Instead, since we caught it early, she's likely to outgrow her adverse reaction to bug bites.

My point is don't wait. It sounds like the bug bite is infected and should be treated right away. The longer you wait, the worse it will get.

Good luck and keep us posted on what you find out.

I would absolutely take him to the pediatrician just to be sure and ease my mind.

from what u are describing he has a spider bite, u need to get him to his pediatrician and they will put him on antibiotics and ointment for the bite... dont pop the blister and dont mess with it it will spread...

My hubby keith has a spider bite and i messed with it and it went from a dime size sore to the size of a fried egg before we actually knew it was a spider bite... we put ointment and he is on a 10 day course of bactrim for his bite...

I would have the ped look at it. It sounds like a boil but it is better to be sure.

Either put antibiotic cream on it or pop it and then put cream on it. It was probably a bug bite that got infected. It will hurt when you pop it, but it will get all the pus out of it.

Dawn,
Please take him to the dr asap! I had the same thing on my arm and I had been bitten by a brown recluse that later became a MRSA infection. Since I'm allergic to sulfa drugs, I spent five days in the hospital. I pray that it's not a recluse bite and he does get better quickly :-)Please keep us potsed on how he does

I would have the doctor look at it. Infections can look like bug bites and people mistake it for a bite. My sister just took her son to the doctor for the same thing - he did NOT have any pain with his though. The doc told her if he DID have pain, it was likely infected. So, if your son is having pain and it is getting worse, I would take him to the doc for sure.

If your husband recently had a MRSA infection, I would not delay in getting your son to the DR. You cannot be too cautious with that, and the DR will not think you're silly for coming in. Also, if it's a bite and getting hard, that is worth having the dr look at as well - it could be a small spider bite. Your son is still very young - his little body and immune system can't fight off infections and/or insect bites like older kids and adults can. Good luck!

If you feel it is out of the ordinary and you have an intuitive feeling that there is a problem, definately take him to the pediatrician. I think with the MRSA history you are justified! You can't be too careful about something like this so go to the doc. You will feel better as well as your little guy.

I would absultely get it checked out. A friend got bitten in the middle of the night in bed. She thought it was a pimple but it ended up being a spider bite. Kids don't have the stamina that adults do, I would get it checked out asap.

It sounds like a spider bite. I would surely take him to the doctor....you can never be too safe.
Jen

I would have it checked. It is better to be safe then sorry. My son had a little spot on his leg that did that, and I didnt go I just treated it at home and he picked it and when he did of course it busted and he cryed that it hurt, so I then took him to get it checked, and it was a staff infection and he was hospitalized for 4 days from it. All it takes is just him scrating himself if his leg itches with a tiney bit of dirt on his hand or under his nail and it can cause that. So my out look is on the child level..its much easier to get it checked early, and on a working Mother its easier to take the time out for an appt. than a hospital stay. So again I say better to be safe than sorry! Good luck I will keep him in my prayers! C. T