A New Zealand man unknowingly housed a live cockroach in his ears for three days. He initially thought his ear was clogged with water and spent the weekend trying to ease the discomfort by drying it out with a hairdryer.
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What Bugs You?
Zane Wedding, an arborist from Auckland, began feeling ‘full’ in his left ear after waking up from a post-swim nap.
He first dismissed it as clogging caused by water, but after two sleepless nights with a blocked ear, he decided to see a doctor who confirmed his water theory. Wedding told the Insider:
When I told him it still felt full, he assured me it was clear, and I should use a hair dryer to dry up any excess water.
But no amount of drying out helped, as he could still feel the water moving in his ear when he walked.
I spent most of the weekend laying on my side or jamming a hairdryer in my ear. When I had to walk around, I would instantly be dizzy. When I would lay down, I could hear the water moving around my ear drum.
‘I Think You Have An Insect In Your Ear’
He went to see another doctor on Monday, but this time around, it was a nose, ear and throat specialist. According to Wedding, the doctor almost immediately realized what had been bugging him. He told CNN:
In that moment I realized every movement I'd felt over the weekend was the cockroach moving around in my ear. I instantly thought of the fact I had just been pumping hot air into my head and cooking a cockroach in my ear canal all weekend. It made me feel sick
In a procedure that lasted five minutes, Wedding’s unwelcomed guest was removed from his ear and he felt instant ‘relief’.
I felt [my eardrum] pop as it came away. I’ve never seen this before. I’ve read about it, but never seen it.
In 2019, doctors in China realized a man’s earache was as a result of a dozen cockroaches that had hatched in his ear.
