I had a bug in my ear...literally!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Sorry, long story…but I think well worth it! I promise it gets better and better! With pics! It’s much better with my sound effects though!

This happened a couple of weeks ago, but completely fresh in my mind, especially the sounds!

I’ve often wondered if it could happen. Have a bug crawl into my ear while I’m sleeping.

Last night I think I feel something crawling on my ear, then ENTER! Skritch…skcritch…skcritch. A roach crawled into my ear!

I jumped up and shot some alcohol into my ear. Felt and heard it moving around. Just like the in Alien…skitch…skritch…skritch…feel and hear it bumping my eardrum, until it stopped.

I tried pulling it out with tweezers, but couldn’t grab anything. I have a Water Pik type device, so I tried washing it out. Nope. I shot more alcohol in there to disinfect and since it didn’t feel too odd, decided it could wait until morning to see the doctor. Make the earliest appointment I could, 11AM and went to sleeping on that side hoping it would fall out.

The next morning, no pain and nothing felt odd until I tapped my head and ate, then it felt like I had water in my ear. And when I stand up, I feel dizzy.

I email my boss saying a bug crawled in my ear, going to the doctor and will update later. Finish breakfast and lay down because my appointment wasn’t until 11.

Got to the doctor and told the nurse I had a bug in my ear.

Nurse: You think there’s a bug in there?

Me: Yep, guaranteed. I heard it go in and felt it moving around.

Nurse shines a light into my ear, screeches “OH MY GOD!” and just back! Then says “Sorry!”

I just laughed and said it was okay.

Doc comes in asks: “You have a bug in your ear?”

Me: “Yep!” And I feel a little dizzy.

Nurse: “I SAW IT!”

Doc says my dizziness is probably because the bug is pushing on my eardrum.

Doc looking in my ear with the scope and is shocked! Asks if he can take a picture?

Me: SURE! I want to see it too!

He and the nurse spent 1/2 hour trying to take a picture with their phones and with and without the scope. Finally got a pic and all you could see was a white blob, like a maggot.

Doctor then tries to pull it out with a tweezer. I joke: “What if it had babies!” Nurse cringes. Doctor grabs something and pulls it out and here it is: 20230209-112821 hosted at ImgBB — ImgBB

Doctor says he pulled out only the back half.

Nurse" DON’T SAY THAT!".

I’m having a great time and tell them about the time I was driving to work and felt something biting the family jewels. I stick my hand down my pants, felt something, then when I pulled it out, it was the back half of a water beetle!
Didn’t finish the story about how I got to work, went to the restroom and sure enough, found the front half in my underwear. Took it off, wiped up and flushed the underwear down the toilet.

I continue to joke and say: I think it spread out it’s legs as it was dying, Nurse is not amused!

I look at what’s in the tray and realize, IT WAS A ROACH EGG SACK! IT REALLY HAD BABIES! Nurse: REALLY NOT AMUSED!

Doctor probes around with tweezers…owww…owww…owww… Says he knows it’s still in there but can’t see or grab it. Says I’ll have to go to the ENT, Doctor Doctory!

Appointment is a the hospital and I have an hour to kill. Go to the drugstore and buy ear wash and earplugs before I head to the hospital.

Get there and the nurse asks: “You have bug in your ear?”

Me: Yep! Is it common?

Nurse: Fairly common.

Nurse: Looks in my ear. Yeah, it’s there. I’m going to try and suck it out.

Me: Okay

Nurse puts the vacuum tube in my ear.

Hummm…hummm…hummm…pump…pump…pump…

Then I swear…pump…pump…pump…swoosh…bump!

Nurse: I think I got it all. Checks with the scope. Yep…all gone! Do you want to see it?

YEAH!!! Can I take a pic? And here it is! 20230209-131626 hosted at ImgBB — ImgBB

Doctor Doctory comes in. Nurse says it’s out. Doctor Doctory checks my ears and all done!

Walk out like my I was on an airplane and my ear popped. Ahhhh!

Only 2pm. I could go to work, but as I think about the roach and how it was in my ear, start feeling queasy and go home.

Email my boss that I’m okay, but won’t be in today. Don’t give her details because it’s really better with sound effects, but send her the pics.

Next morning, I tell her the story with sound effects and tell her I realized that I’ve seen ever a roach walk backwards, so the only way it could go was forwards! She looks it up and yep, they can’t really walk backward!

I tell my boss, I’ve named her Anna. After a psycho former co-worker who was a self proclaimed witch. Not a white witch, a witch! Who said I astral projected to her one night and screamed into her ear. After she and I were let go due to downsizing, she astral projected and violently shook my bed day and night, whether I was awake or asleep for a month! I think I may have posted the story here before.

Anyway, i wear earplugs whenever I sleep or take a nap!

Skcritch…skcritch…skcritch!

2

Oh my God. When the nurse screamed I laughed so hard. Glad it didn’t happen to me!

And sorry I gotta pass on those pics… :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

3

Awww…Anna’s going to be mad. And you know what she does when she’s mad! LOL!

Yeah, I had a great time with the first Doctor and nurse. Especially the nurse!

4

I’m thoroughly grossed out now.

I need to lie down.

My Daddy’s brother had a wasp fly in his ear. He swore they never got it out. He heard buzzing for years.
He was nuts, tho’

5

Yikes!!!

There’s a famous episode of Night Gallery that you probably don’t want to see, but I’ll mention it anyway. It’s called “The Caterpillar”, though it has nothing to do with caterpillars and is about an earwig. It’s regarded as a fine bit of old TV horror, and it has some horrific but unrealistic premises. Contrary to their name, earwigs don’t typically actually enter people’s ears, and if one ever did, it would not have the horrific effect depicted. I’ll say no more. :beetle:

6

Wow. Glad you’re okay and it’s out! Great story to gross out kids and grandkids!

7

Heh, I just watched ST II: Wrath of Khan last night on the big screen, followed by discussion with Bill Shatner, at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee. Watching the bugs go into Chekov’s and his captain’s ear was fun! I miss pulling stuff out of people’s orifices.

Well, I miss pulling some stuff from some orifices.

8

I read that story thinking “NO STOP!! Ok keep going STOP!!”

I could really identify with the nurse :rofl:

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My husband just asked about the sound effects I was making while I read this story! How am I supposed to sleep tonight, did you even ask yourself that? :hear_no_evil:

10

I have a not dissimilar story from around 1995, though it was my husband, not me, who had the roach in his ear. We think one of our cats must have jumped on the bed with it while we were asleep, and it ran into his ear to escape.

Many unsuccessful, bleary-eyed, roach removal attempts followed (we got pretty creative), culminating in a desperate trip to the health clinic at about 3am. The health professionals on duty were unfazed and said it happens all the time, especially to children sleeping on the floor (this was in Jakarta), commenting, “You are lucky it was such a large roach. The tiny ones are hard to get out.”

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(Missed edit window, sorry for double post).

I am still thinking about whether I want to click on @Didi44’s photos or not. I should be pretty desensitized to this sort of thing, having lived for decades in tropical climes, but … I’m still scared to look!

12

They’re not too bad. Well, maybe.

13

Don’t do it!

14

Thanks for the advice, Beck! I trust you.

15

Seriously, it’s just a bug.

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I’ve seen both the The Caterpillar and Star Trek II and both ran through my mind immediately! That’s where “It was a female with eggs!” and “They can only walk forward!” thoughts and words I said came from.

Star Trek II is also where the “skcritch…skcritch…skcritch…” sound, along with Alien came from.

And yes, it’s the sound of the legs moving. Into and inside my ear! “It’s on my head. What if it. goes i…ARRGH IT DID!” Just like the movie!

Just checked my email and it happened on Feb 9. I was going to post that day and started this post, but reliving the experience was too much. Sleep with earplugs (cut them down to just the nub) every night since then and check that they’re still there several times a night or day when taking a name. CRINGE

I felt a roach on my head during the night years ago, and have wondered what would happen if it entered my ear. Now, I and you know! LOL

In my email, I told my boss that the things I’ve experienced over the years is amazing.

My co-worker came in after I told my boss the story and said she didn’t want to hear it. I told another co-worker the story later and she walked away as I started!

Edit: The second best part, after the nurse’s reactions was everyone asking, “Is it dead? Are you sure?”. Ummm…yeah “I’m sure it stopped moving!” hours ago!

17

Seriously, it’s just a bug.

Until it’s IN YOU! LOL

It really wasn’t that bad while it was happening. Overall felt fine and could hear a bit out of my left ear. It was only after I left the second Doctor and started to relive it that I felt queasy. Ewwwwwww…

18

Umm. Pest control is a thing. Just sayin’
:beetle:

19

I think humans are wired to deal calmly with horrifying things when they have no choice, and then break down later. So, you were stoic when you had to be, because … really, what else could you do?

Later you “felt queasy” because you could do so safely, without making the situation worse.

That’s my armchair psychologist take on it it, anyway.

20

Dude! That one scared me almost as the Last of the McBains did. I loved Night Gallery. My parents didn’t.