After four days of hearing “abnormal sounds” in her left ear, a 64-year-old woman in Taiwan went to an ear, nose and throat clinic to get to the root of her strange symptoms.
She reported hearing “incessant beating, clicking, and rustling sounds” that caused her to be unable to sleep at night, according to a case report from the New England Journal of Medicine.
Upon examination by a doctor, a tiny spider was discovered crawling around in the woman’s ear canal.
But that’s not all, the spider had shed its exoskeleton while hitching a ride in the woman’s ear. The remains of the spider’s molted shell was still in the woman’s ear when doctors peered inside.
The story alone is enough to give someone the heebie jeebies, but the New England Journal of Medicine went a step further by providing video of the creepy crawly skittering around and up the walls of the woman’s ear canal, with his old clothes discarded beside him.
Many online observers were considerably creeped out by the video.
“At that point, I’d just set my whole head on fire,” one commenter wrote.
The video shows the inside of woman’s ear with the tympanic membrane, also known as the eardrum, closing off the back of the ear canal. Thankfully, the eardrum was not damaged by the unwelcome visitor or the woman might be facing hearing loss or an increased risk of infection.
Doctors were able to safely remove the spider and its exoskeleton by using a small suction tube.
The authors of the report write that if the spider had been larger, doctors may have had to administer an anesthetic or ethanol to kill the animal before removing it, “in order to prevent excessive movements and subsequent damage to the structures of the ear.” However, this technique would not be a safe option if the woman’s eardrum had been ruptured.
After the spider was removed from the ear, “the patient’s symptoms immediately abated.”
Dr. Tengchin Wang, co-author of the report and director of otolaryngology at Tainan Municipal Hospital, told NBC that the spider was about 2 to 3 millimetres in size.
“(The woman) didn’t feel pain because the spider was very small,” he said.
It’s not uncommon for bugs to find their way into people’s ears, but Wang said this case is unique. He has seen ants, moths, cockroaches and mosquitoes in people’s ears before, but never had he encountered an insect that moulted inside an ear canal.
According to Healthlink BC, if you suspect an insect is inside your ear, there are two steps you can take to remove the hitchhiker yourself before requiring medical attention.
“Pull the ear up and back, and let the sun or a bright light shine inside the ear,” health officials wrote. “Insects are attracted to light and may crawl out.”
If that doesn’t work, Healthlink BC advises you can lie down with your affected ear facing upwards, and get someone to fill the ear canal with body temperature olive or baby oil to float the insect out.
Doctors, however, do not advise using cotton swabs or Q-tips, as these can push objects further inside the ear making them harder to remove and causing ear damage.
In general, if you suspect something is lodged in your ear for more than 24 hours and it won’t come out, see a doctor, public health officials recommend.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.