http://www.yourhealth.com.sg/content/spider-found-living-inside-womans-ear-canal
Local news media reported that the woman, only identified as Ms Lee, went to Changsha Central Hospital of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery on August 8 complaining that her ear was itchy.
When Dr Liu Sheng shone a light down the woman's ear, he got a huge shock - there was a spider staring straight back at him.
The tiny spider had apparently crawled into her ear canal when she was asleep.
Doctors then decided to pour a saline solution into the canal to encourage the spider to crawl out of its own accord, rather than force it out.
According to the report, extracting the live spider would have resulted in the arachnoid digging its barbs deeper into her flesh and causing potential damage. Dr Liu said that the woman avoided harm by not inserting anything into her ear to scratch the itch.
However disgusting and incredible this might sound, it is certainly not the first time insects have made homes in human cavities.
Earlier this year, a young boy was rushed to hospital after a cockroach crawled into his ear while he was asleep and became stuck in the narrow canal.
What to do:
- Seek help immediately
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An insect trapped in the ear will desperately try to escape and with its claws, would potentially inflict damages on the eardrum or ear canal.
Leaving them inside the ear is not an option as many retained objects can cause an infection in the ear.
- If medical help is not immediately available, get some olive oil and pour about four to five drops into the ear
Most of the time, when an insect is trapped in the ear, its legs are moving and can hit against the ear drums.
If the insect thrashes about too violently, it can not only cause abrasions and lacerations, but also tear a hole in the ear drum and damage the fragile bones and ligaments there.
The oil serves to drown the insect so it stops moving. In fact, any oil-based liquid substance would do the trick.
In the process, it also helps to prevent the insect from having too firm a grip on the eardrum and ear canal, minimising the potential damage it can cause.
What NOT to do
- DO NOT attempt to extract the object, animate or inanimate, by yourself
If it's alive, it will only make the insect struggle more and inflict more damage. Even if the object is inanimate or dead, it is highly likely that an untrained person would end up removing more than the object.
- DO NOT use water to drown the insect
Drowning the insect in water is likely to cause the insect to swell up, making it bigger and harder to remove later.
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