Spider found crawling in woman's ear; watch video
PTC Web Desk: A 64-year-old woman from Taiwan experienced a bizarre ordeal when she sought medical attention for unusual sounds in her left ear. She had been struggling with incessant clicking, rustling, and a sensation of movement within her ear, which had disrupted her sleep for four days.
After consulting an ear, nose, and throat clinic, doctors made a startling discovery: a spider had taken residence in her ear canal, complete with its exoskeleton. Using a tube, they successfully removed the spider and its discarded exoskeleton, promptly alleviating the woman's symptoms.
Thankfully, no damage was inflicted on her eardrum. This peculiar incident was documented by doctors from Tainan Municipal Hospital in Taiwan, who published a case report in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr Tengchin Wang, the co-author and director of the otolaryngology department at the hospital, noted that the woman didn't experience pain as the spider was quite small.
Jerry Rovner, an emeritus biology professor at Ohio University, shed light on the likely reason for the spider's unexpected presence in the woman's ear. He explained that many hunting spiders, those that don't create prey-capture webs, seek sheltered spots for molting, as they are vulnerable to predators during this process.
Watch the video
A woman with hypertension presented to the clinic with a 4-day history of abnormal sounds in her ear. On examination, a small spider was seen moving within the external auditory canal of the left ear. The molted exoskeleton of the spider was also present. https://t.co/dye2sbbiL9 pic.twitter.com/SfeNBBGQS8 — NEJM (@NEJM) October 25, 2023
- With inputs from agencies
