Spider Found Living, Spinning Web Inside Man's Ear

A man from China was shocked when his doctor told him Saturday there was a spider living inside his ear.

The unidentified man, who was in his 60s, visited a hospital in Dalian city to get himself checked out after complaining about a buzzing sound in his left ear. The doctor who conducted the checkup was horrified when an endoscopy revealed an eight-legged insect crawling among a small cluster of webs inside the man's ear canal.

According to local reports, the man told the doctor he suspected the insect might have crawled into his ear the previous night as he reported some itchiness during his sleep.

"I felt discomfort in my ear while sleeping last night but I tried to ignore it. This morning the discomfort was still there. There were noises like something was beating a drum,” the patient said, the Sun reported.

ENT specialist Dr. Cui Shulin said the patient complained of pounding sounds in his ear, which were similar to a drum's beats. However, he was stunned to see a spider at least 2 inches deep inside the ear. The doctors managed to get out the spider with the help of water sprays and the man did not suffer any injuries. The person's hearing ability remained intact and there was also no damages to the ear canal.

"I have been a doctor for more than ten years, and the spider web in my ear is still the first time I encountered it!" the doctor told reporters.

"This old man showed up at our outpatient clinic today saying he thought there was insect in his ear. I performed an endoscopy and found a spider. The thing had spun webs,” the doctor wrote on social media.

In a similar incident in 2012, a woman checked into a Chinese hospital and found a spider had taken up residence in her ear canal. She visited the Changsha Central Hospital of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery to check an itchy ear. An endoscopy showed a spider with four eyes sitting inside the ear canal.

The doctors felt if they were to simply remove the spider, it would "instinctively drill its barbs deeper, scratching the ear canal.” They eventually got it out by pouring saline solution into the ear canal and flushing out the spider. The woman felt the insect may have found its new home while she slept in her house during renovations five days back.

According to the National Library Of Medicine, any person who thinks an insect has entered the ear should not reach in as there are chances of it stinging or biting. The person should first turn his head with the affected side up to see if the insect crawls out. If it doesn’t work, he should pour mineral, olive or baby oil into the ear while gently pulling the earlobe backward and upward. This will suffocate the insect, which will float out with the oil.