Chinese man complains of earache, finds a family of cockroaches living inside his ear

He experienced a "sharp pain" while asleep and woke up to a living nightmare when his family found a cockroach in his ear canal.

You would think that's the worst of it but when the 24-year-old Chinese man, identified as Lu, sought medical help at Sanhe Hospital in Huiyang in October, the doctor discovered a family of cockroaches living in his ear. 

According to media reports, the ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist revealed that in addition to the mother cockroach, there were around 10 baby cockroaches "running around".

The specialist said: "He said his ear hurt a lot, like something was scratching or crawling inside. It caused a lot of discomfort."

The newly-hatched insects, along with their mother, were removed with a pair of tweezers and were reported to be of the German species, Blattella germanica.

Lu was found to have sustained minor injuries to his ear canal and was discharged the same day with some ointment and cream.

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As Lu admitted that he would often leave unfinished food near his bed, the specialist theorised that it could be the reason for the adult cockroach nesting in his ear because it could have "viewed the man's ear as an incubation chamber and crawled inside".

In order to avoid similar occurrences, the doctor advised practising good household hygiene, disinfecting drains and sewers, and using mosquito nets to prevent insects from flying into the home.

bryanlim@asiaone.com