# A 21-year-old woman presented to our hospital with the sensation of something moving in her eye. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 15, 2010, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824 "2010-09-15T06:59:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/1 "2010-09-15T06:59:41Z")
[At the other end of this link is pictures and video of a roundworm in a young woman’s eyeball.](http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMicm1002020) > [@](#): > > _Loa loa_ [so nice they named it twice] is a nematode whose larvae are introduced into humans (such as our patient) who have been bitten by infected chrysops flies in areas of western equatorial Africa. Over a period of 3 to 4 years, the larvae mature into adult worms, which can then live for up to 17 years in a human host, moving at speeds of up to 1 cm per minute as they roam through the patient’s subcutaneous tissues. The best part of the video is when it finally comes out. There’s also video of botfly larvae extraction on YouTube, which is potentially even more satisfying. I can dig those up if anyone’s interested. (You scream, I scream, we all scream at [Eye Scream](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EyeScream)!) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/2 "2010-09-15T07:04:59Z")
Wow, that’s pretty interesting. So that critter’s been inside her for six years, eh? I can only imagine how relieving it was to finally get that sucker out. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/3 "2010-09-15T08:06:41Z")
Just posting to say you’d have to offer me a good sized pile of money to click that link. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/4 "2010-09-15T08:11:57Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Just posting to say you’d have to offer me a good sized pile of money to click that link. :eek: I can’t see clicking on that link either. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/5 "2010-09-15T08:22:48Z")
Critters like these are proof that there is a god. And he hates our living guts. Even beer doesn’t make up for eye worms. I’m curious though, how does one feel something moving in their eye ? Isn’t it just nerveless goop inside ? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/6 "2010-09-15T08:41:12Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Critters like these are proof that there is a god. And he hates our living guts. Even beer doesn’t make up for eye worms. > > I’m curious though, how does one feel something moving in their eye ? Isn’t it just nerveless goop inside ? The nematode was just barely under the surface of the eye, so even if the majority of the volume lacks nerve tissue (as it likely does, since it’s filled with the vitreous humor) the parasite was in the part most able to feel its wriggly incursions. On a completely unrelated note, [Isaac Newton did a really _interesting_ experiment on his own eye with a small knife.](http://gravityandlevity.wordpress.com/2009/10/10/the-sins-of-isaac-newton/) The page from his notebooks at the other end of that link has a rather odd illustration. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/7 "2010-09-15T10:28:03Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I can’t see clicking on that link either. :eek: I saw what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/8 "2010-09-15T10:35:24Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > > [@Magiver](#): > > > > I can’t see clicking on that link either. :eek: > > I saw what you did there. :smack: Guess what _that_ smilie feels. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/9 "2010-09-15T10:40:31Z")
That is seriously fucken’ gross **Derleth**. You should be ashamed of yourself. Why don’t you just fuck right off and go somewhere under a rock and eat worms or something. ☹ Oh, alright, I’m over it now…you’re redeemed. But never, NEVER post shit like that again, OK?? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/10 "2010-09-15T11:50:10Z")
Ew. Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew! :eek: I hate eyeballs. And parasites. Put the two together, and I’ll be over here wretching in the corner. I can handle poop and pus and vomit and blood, but eyeballs make me oogey. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/11 "2010-09-15T12:33:17Z")
Ah, African eyeworm, or Loaiasis. One of my favorite filarial parasites. Certainly the most dramatic. I love filarial nematodes. In the classroom, my filariasis lecture is my favorite. Students seem to fall into 2 camps - either fascinated or disgusted. > [@](#): > > There’s also video of botfly larvae extraction on YouTube, which is potentially even more satisfying. heh. One of my colleagues got parasitized by a human botfly years ago and didn’t let the doctors remove it - he photodocumented the development instead. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/12 "2010-09-15T12:42:51Z")
:eek: ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/13 "2010-09-15T12:46:14Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Just posting to say you’d have to offer me a good sized pile of money to click that link. :eek: I’m with ya, sister. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/14 "2010-09-15T13:16:41Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Just posting to say you’d have to offer me a good sized pile of money to click that link. :eek: Yeah, a couple of months ago I did a thread on “Links you will not go to”, and this one has been added to the list. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/15 "2010-09-15T14:05:26Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > That is seriously fucken’ gross **Derleth**. You should be ashamed of yourself. Why don’t you just fuck right off and go somewhere under a rock and eat worms or something. ☹ > > Oh, alright, I’m over it now…you’re redeemed. But never, NEVER post shit like that again, OK?? ☹ Are you being serious? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/16 "2010-09-15T15:38:05Z")
It’d probably be cruel to suggest that the activity of the parasite might feel an awful lot like when you have an eyelid twitching for no apparent reason… /ducks, runs Working in Ophthalmology gets you past “body horror” issues about eyes pretty quickly - though I will admit that a coworker getting a papercut on her eye (the white part) did still bother\* me due to the amount of pain that must have been involved. - I wrote “bug” initially, which seemed way too punny. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/17 "2010-09-15T16:26:25Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Critters like these are proof that there is a god. And he hates our living guts. Even beer doesn’t make up for eye worms. [David Attenborough disagrees.](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/27/david-attenborough-science) ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/18 "2010-09-15T17:01:05Z")
You posted that during the lunch hour on purpose, didn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/19 "2010-09-15T18:34:08Z")
Not as gross as I was expecting. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824/20 "2010-09-15T19:16:00Z")
“The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out…” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-21-year-old-woman-presented-to-our-hospital-with-the-sensation-of-something-moving-in-her-eye/553824.md?page=2)