Best way to treat tarantula urticating hair

[Urzeitmensch]

I've been hit with theraphosa blondi (Goliath) hairs in high concentration. Trying not to claw my skin off was challenging. I took 4 Tylenol PMs and still couldn't sleep. I had 65% of my body covered in hives (at this point it was more like 1 giant hive) it literally looked like an acid burn. After about 3 hours it was so unbearable the thought of suicide would not leave my mind. After about 8 hours I finally fell asleep. I don't know if it was the Tylenol PMs or sheer exhaustion that knocked me out but I am grateful because it was way easier to manage the next day.
Point of the story is not to get hit with urticating hairs in the first place. It just sucks!

Thank you for this disturbingly vivid description.

While I did not have problems with hairs yet I bought those venom steel gloves that The Tarantula Collective recommended in a video. I was doubtful if standard one-way gloves would suffice. I will use the gloves if for some reason have to dig around an enclosure with my hands or if I notice irritations from floating hairs.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

First off let me remind you that the hairs are a physical irritant.

This thread is 7 years old and OP hasn't logged in since 2015.

 

[Feral]

Thank you for noting that it's really old, @The Grym Reaper!


However, since it's been opened up again, a few points to remember:

First off let me remind you that the hairs are a physical irritant. The moment you are exposed to the hairs they burrow deep into the skin. Microscopically they are covered with Barb's that work their way further into the skin when scratched. It takes between 3-9 days for them to naturally work their way out. Forget the Benadryl and aloe. Possibly hydrocortisone cream and definitely stay away from soap and water after initial contact. This will only spreads hairs to parts of the body you don't want to itch (trust me) your best bet is to either use hot wax strips or even duct tape over the area. The majority of the hairs should get stuck in the adhesive and remove themselves when the tape gets pulled off. This will only work on whatever is still on the surface. Any hairs that have already made their way into your skin are stuck there. There's no real remedy to remove imbedded hairs. You just have to wait and try really hard not to scratch after 12-24 hours you should get partial relief 24-36 hours it will still be annoying but not the initial torture of the first 12 hours. 48+ hours will be mild skin irritation and after about a week or so you should be back to normal.

I've been hit with theraphosa blondi (Goliath) hairs in high concentration. Trying not to claw my skin off was challenging. I took 4 Tylenol PMs and still couldn't sleep. I had 65% of my body covered in hives (at this point it was more like 1 giant hive) it literally looked like an acid burn. After about 3 hours it was so unbearable the thought of suicide would not leave my mind. After about 8 hours I finally fell asleep. I don't know if it was the Tylenol PMs or sheer exhaustion that knocked me out but I am grateful because it was way easier to manage the next day.
Point of the story is not to get hit with urticating hairs in the first place. It just sucks!

Some things here are right, some things are wrong.

First, think you mean mechanical irritant. Like, as opposed to a chemical irritant. Anything that irritates us physically is a physical irritant, whether mechanical or chemical/allergic. So mechanical is the word to use there.

Though, to be clear, you can still have a chemical reaction (allergy) to urticating hairs. You see, there are different types of reactioons to urticating hairs- mechanical and chemical. Everybody has a mechanical reaction to the hairs, period. The barbed little bastards become embedded and keep irritating, as long as they are there, like many tiny burrs. But some people can, over time, develop a sensitivity to them (allergy), which is an over-reaction of the body on a chemical level.

It's like, if I were to get stabbed with a shard of metal. Then there would be mechanical reaction/damage from the object itself, but if I had, say, a nickel allergy and that shard was a nickel alloy, I might also have a chemical/allergic reaction.

Make sense?

Having said that, if PREVENTION (BEST WAY!) failed, then as far as I can tell the most effective methods for removal of urticating hairs in skin (eye irritation or respiratory irritation is a thing for a licensed MD!) seems to be combination of thorough adhesive tape removal, then flushing the area with water very well, then a lubricating and hypoallergenic lotion/oil, reapplied as needed.
OTC antihistamines, either oral or topical, can help IF there is an actual allergy (see above).

[Edit- Because I don't work on humans professionally and I'm certainly not a doctor, I remembered that I just met a new member yesterday, a medical professional called @DrGilman, and maybe he might feel comfortable giving us some advice for basic first aid of urticating setae, I don't know the ethics on that. If that's not cool, DrGilman, I'm so sorry! I hope I didn't make you feel like you're on the spot and free to decline, of course!]

Also, to clear up some confusion in the thread...
-there is no correlation between having an allergy to setae versus having an allergy to tarantula venom. Different proteins! So an allergy to setae does not predict risk of an allergy to T venom.
-Additionally, tarantula venom is certainly unrelated to bee or wasp venom, as that has entirely different proteins as well. So a bee or wasp sting allergy would have no correlation to any risk of T venom allergy.
-More importantly, science has proven that an allergy to tarantula venom is not possible, considering the nature of those proteins. Here is a study where the venom of three Ts (C. darlingi, P. regalis, and T. epicureanum) were analyzed:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4470046/#!po=68.3333
And here is a meta-analysis of spider venom toxicity that includes a section on tarantula bites and setae:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4614586/
Here is an article that talks about a study on tarantula venom and setae and allergic reaction to setae:
https://www.livescience.com/41795-tarantula-bites-harmful.html
The study is behind a paywall but here is the abstract, which doesn't mention allergy or setae, but here is the abstract to the study that above article is based on:
https://www.researchgate.net/public...restimated_theraphosids_of_medical_importance

This hobby can sometimes be so bad for repeating misinformation and untruths, over and over. Please spread the correct knowledge!