Shocking photos of woman's year-long recovery from a spider bite

WARNING: Graphic

A woman has documented the horrific healing process after she was bitten on the thigh by a spider in the US.

The unidentified woman, who had photos of her wound shared online through social media, was bitten by a brown recluse spider. The spiders are native to a number of southwest and midwestern US states, including Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana and Iowa.

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According to a Reddit post, after being bitten the woman caught the spider and "put it in a plastic zip lock to show the doctor".

Photos of her healing process over the course of a year are shocking, and show the bite on her upper thigh progressively turning from a reddened, irritated looking bite to a more severe open wound.

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"Here is the progression: she went to the doctor within 45 minutes of being bitten," the original post read. "14 days of antibiotics, three times a day. Everyday treatment for the first two weeks and once a week since then."

The bite then turned purple, before significantly darkening in colour over a number of weeks.

The wound eventually turns into a horrific craterlike wound, with pus surrounding its edges. A final photo shows the woman with a large scar on her leg one year after suffering the bite.

The brown recluse spider is not considered an aggressive spider, according to the University of Kentucky. The spiders will generally only attack when pressed between a surface and bare skin.

Their bites usually remain localised without any serious pain or complications — however, in some cases people can develop a "necrotic lesion".

This can appear as a dry, sinking, blue coloured patch of skin, with redness at the edges, and a central blister.

The venom then destroys the tissue, and a necrotic ulcer can persist for months and leave a significant scar.