Former “The Voice”season eight contestant Meghan Linsey revealed a gruesome injury to her face in February after she was bitten by a brown recluse spider.
The graphic photos showed the right side of Linsey’s face severely swollen and heavily bruised. Her right eye was nearly swollen shut.
"The swelling was the first thing, and then I ended up just having crazy, crazy symptoms," Linsey told People. "I had muscle spasms, then I had a body rash all over. They tell people to not look up things on WebMD, and I had looked up everything on WebMD and I had every symptom. Every day was another thing.
“I was supposed to be getting better, but I was getting worse – up until day nine, which is when the symptoms stopped happening and the necrosis started on my face.
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Skin cells in the area of the bite began to die, creating a dark gash on her face.
Linsey, 31, told People that she visited a wound specialist in South Carolina and underwent experimental hyperbaric chamber treatment, which got some results.
That, combined with a recommendation from a fan who works as a pharmaceutical representative to try a wound dressing called Stratamed, improved her appearance.
“It’s kind of a pain at this point (to cover the area with makeup) but, after going through everything I went through, I’m just glad to be alive,” she told People.
A March 9 Instagram post from the singer 25 days after she was bitten showed that her face was in the process of healing.
“All of the black (dead tissue) is GONE! Super excited about this,” she wrote.
Linsey said she is also thankful to her fans for their support during a difficult period.
“It’s nice to raise awareness,” she said. “It’s not talked about a lot and I have a way to get the word out.”
