People who have been bitten by a black widow spider are recommended to seek professional medical assistance for symptoms. Symptoms self-resolve in hours to days in a majority of bites without medical intervention. Medical treatments have varied over the years. Some treatments (e.g. calcium gluconate) have been discovered to be useless. Currently, treatment usually involves symptomatic therapy with pain medication, muscle relaxants, and antivenom. When the pain becomes unbearable, antivenom is administered. Antivenom historically completely resolves pain in a short time. Antivenom is made by injecting horses with latrodectus venom over a period of time. The horse develops antibodies against the venom. The horse is bled and the antibodies purified for later use. Doctors recommend the use of anti-inflammatory medications before antivenom administration, because antivenom can induce allergic reactions to the horse proteins. The efficacy of antivenom has come under scrutiny as patients receiving placebo have also recovered quickly. Antivenom is used widely in Australia for redback bites; however, in the United States it is less commonly used. Antivenom made from spider bite survivors has been used since the 1920s. Opiates such as morphine relieve pain and benzodiazepines ease muscle spasm in most patients.
Latrodectism
Klismaphilia
Tourettism
Macrodystrophia lipomatosa
Dacryphilia
Hapalonychia
Palilalia
X-linked hypertrichosis