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

The woman caught the spider and put it in a zip lock bag to show the doctor. Photo / Reddit

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.

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.

The wound continued to darken and formed a blister. Photo / Reddit

"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 skin then turned an alarming black colour. Photo / Reddit

Horrifying. Photo / Reddit

The woman was left with a deep crater like scar. Photo / Reddit

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.