Are spiders crawling on my sleeping face?

October 13, 2009 3:31 PM

Periodically (maybe a couple or few times a year), I wake up with something on my face that seems like a bug bite. Nothing dramatic; it itches a bit, raises a small welt and then heals.

My family called these "spider bites." Is that what they are? My home (mid-Atlantic US) has no obvious evidence of spiders living inside. Do mosquito bites present differently on the face? These are not as itchy as mosquito bites usually are and I haven't noticed it happening more in summer. It doesn't resemble a blemish, either; its center seems to have bite-like qualities and it is often in non-blemish-prone areas like my cheeks. Googling "spider bites" is an unhelpful horror show.

posted by Morrigan to health & fitness (11 comments total)

Bed bugs?

Acne?
posted by Sys Rq at 3:34 PM on October 13

Psoriasis?
posted by dfriedman at 3:42 PM on October 13

it could be anything. I would favor mosquitos, and they present differently because you are not feeling or scratching them - being asleep and all. Of course, I live in Minnesota, so I assume that everything is mosquitos..
posted by Think_Long at 3:51 PM on October 13

Probably a hive. I get these all the time on my upper cheek bones. Google thus.
posted by andreap at 3:52 PM on October 13

Well, if we're usually only about 6 feet away from a spider...
posted by MsMolly at 4:16 PM on October 13

Your name and profile don't indicate your gender, but sometimes ingrown beard hairs can look like that.
posted by deadmessenger at 4:37 PM on October 13

If you didn't see a spider, then it's probably not a spider bite. Spiders are often incorrectly blamed for unexplained skin lesions. Spiders don't crawl into bed with people in order to bite them. They eat bugs, not people.
posted by Ery at 4:39 PM on October 13

Mosquitoes are trolling at dusk but not "overnight". Any kind of bug or spider may be making these marks on your face (are they never anywhere else?) that is feeling threatened or hungry. Do you have housemates and if so, are you the only victim? A hive is usually an allergic response. Bed bugs troll overnight, or at least in the dark (only). Psoriasis usually has areas of the lesion that are asymmetrical, whereas a bite looks like a bite (in its symmetry). Some things always remain a mystery!
posted by bebrave! at 4:48 PM on October 13

Hives? There's a kind of giant hive and I can't remember the name of it. White bullseye and bump.
posted by AuntieRuth at 5:15 PM on October 13

Mosquito bites present very differently on my face. Despite being one of those people who gets quite angry reactions to mosquito bites, when they get me on the face (yep, when I'm sleeping, usually at dawn) they itch a bit at the onset, but are less extreme of a mark, barely itch after about an hour, and heal very, very quickly.
posted by desuetude at 7:19 PM on October 13

I get small itchy non-red bumps occasionally that are tiny and clear-fluid-filled. Dermatologist never could figure out what it was. I just figure I'm allergic to something.
posted by IndigoRain at 12:49 AM on October 14