I've NEVER seen a venomous snake bite, and I hope not to. There's got to be some benefit living in a place that averages 10 feet of snow annually!
But I've had two brown recluse bites, and I've seen several more. They're no fun! But if you apply a poultice made from activated charcoal (preferably moistened with lavender essential oil, but colloidal silver or plain water will work) as soon as possible, it turns it from a potential weeks-long ordeal to a minor nuisance.
My first bite wasn't noticed until probably 10 hours later when I woke from a deep sleep dreaming that I'd fallen with my hand in a campfire, and clawing frantically at the deep, intense itching. The bite was at the base of my ring finger on the top of the hand, and the hand was already swollen to the size of a softball. I used charcoal on it for a couple of days, replacing it with fresh every couple hours and keeping it moist, and by the third day the swelling was pretty well gone, and the bite site only had a small sore maybe 1/8" across. It took about 2 weeks to heal,
The second time, I figured out I'd been bitten within an hour or so, and applied charcoal and lavender immediately. It never swelled at all, the pain dissipated within 2 hours, and it never showed any tissue damage at the bite site.
Even a couple I saw in neighbors which weren't addressed until the bite site had an ooen sore the size of a quarter improved rapidly with charcoal (and comfrey and a hyaluronic acid gel I invented)
My point being... if I suffered a snake bite, if I had a suction kit, I'd use it, but I'd apply charcoal as quickly as possible. These days, I'd use the charcoal while on the way to the hospital, but I suspect that unless you were unlucky enough for the venom to be injected into a vein, charcoal might preclude the need for major hospital care, or at least reduce the severity of the symptoms. Fortunately, I'm never likely to find out!
Summerthyme
But I've had two brown recluse bites, and I've seen several more. They're no fun! But if you apply a poultice made from activated charcoal (preferably moistened with lavender essential oil, but colloidal silver or plain water will work) as soon as possible, it turns it from a potential weeks-long ordeal to a minor nuisance.
My first bite wasn't noticed until probably 10 hours later when I woke from a deep sleep dreaming that I'd fallen with my hand in a campfire, and clawing frantically at the deep, intense itching. The bite was at the base of my ring finger on the top of the hand, and the hand was already swollen to the size of a softball. I used charcoal on it for a couple of days, replacing it with fresh every couple hours and keeping it moist, and by the third day the swelling was pretty well gone, and the bite site only had a small sore maybe 1/8" across. It took about 2 weeks to heal,
The second time, I figured out I'd been bitten within an hour or so, and applied charcoal and lavender immediately. It never swelled at all, the pain dissipated within 2 hours, and it never showed any tissue damage at the bite site.
Even a couple I saw in neighbors which weren't addressed until the bite site had an ooen sore the size of a quarter improved rapidly with charcoal (and comfrey and a hyaluronic acid gel I invented)
My point being... if I suffered a snake bite, if I had a suction kit, I'd use it, but I'd apply charcoal as quickly as possible. These days, I'd use the charcoal while on the way to the hospital, but I suspect that unless you were unlucky enough for the venom to be injected into a vein, charcoal might preclude the need for major hospital care, or at least reduce the severity of the symptoms. Fortunately, I'm never likely to find out!
Summerthyme
