One of the challenges of living in the country is living alongside critters that like to bite you. Last week, I woke up with a welt the size of a quarter on the inside of my arm. From previous experience, it appeared to be a spider bite. I could see two little puncture wounds in the center of the welt. They usually go away after a couple of days without treatment but this one seemed to grow bigger and redder each day along with getting rather sore and itchy. On the third day, I decided to put a plantain poultice on it. I found some fresh plantain from the yard, chewed it up and applied it. There was relief within minutes. I decided to leave it on over night. The next morning the welt had gone down and the area seemed to have dried up. I was rather relieved, as I have known people to get rather bad infections from spider bites.

Unfortunately, by the afternoon, the welt returned and was sore again. I decided to use baking soda this time. I made a paste by adding a little water to the baking soda and applied it for 20 minutes. The welt went down again and the itching and soreness was gone. I am grateful to say – baking soda did the trick! What I had was just a red patch left on my arm, which faded in a couple of days.

The reason why I tried plantain and baking soda for my spider bite was because; the venom from the spider was causing a reaction in my body. I needed to draw the venom out so my body could heal. Plantain and baking soda are known for their strong abilities to draw venom out. I am very grateful that this easy remedy worked.

All information is shared for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition.