Doctors Remove Spider Found Living Inside Woman’s Ear

A freaky urban legend has come to pass after a spider was discovered living inside a woman’s ear after she went to the hospital complaining of itching in her ear.

The woman, identified only as Mrs. Lee, went to China’s Changsha Central Hospital of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery on Wednesday, complaining of itching in her ear, hoping that doctors would be able to help, reports The Huffington Post.

Dr. Liu Sheng, wanting to help the woman, looked inside and discovered a spider living inside the woman’s ear canal. Sheng believes that the spider must have entered Ms. Lee’s house during renovations and crawled inside her while she was sleeping.

Instead of attempting to take the living spider out of her ear with equipment, fearing that the process would cause the arachnid to drill its barbs deeper into her ear, the doctor and his colleagues forced the spider out of the woman’s ear canal using a saline solution.

An X-ray photo of the chill-inducing incident was posted to Reddit by Psycho0222, and one commenter recalled a similar story when a spider crawled out of his or her ear while they were showering.

After the spider was safely removed from her ear, Ms. Lee reportedly wept with gratitude at the safe and effective removal of the eight-legged insect, according to Yahoo! News. Spiders and other bugs are appearing in larger numbers this summer because of warm weather and drought conditions across the US. Philip Koehler, an entomology professor at the University of Florida explained the spider’s decision for burrowing into Ms. Lee’s ear for comfort, saying:

“The insects are probably entering the canal as harborage, for heat, and/or for moisture.”

Would you be creeped out if you discovered a spider living inside your ear?