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A Cambridge man is relishing the sound of silence after years of living with a mass of mites on his eardrum.
Paul Balvert's "noisy nightmare" went undiagnosed for two years. The infestation has stunned ear therapists and a clinical microbiologist who are unaware of any other documented cases of mites thriving and reproducing in a human ear.
Entomologists believe the eight-legged inhabitants are flour or grain mites known as Acarus siro.
Mr Balvert is jubilant and "forever grateful" a Hamilton ear nurse made the creepy discovery and eradicated the mites - ending what he had considered an inescapable nightmare.
Looking back, he believes one or more of his crawly former "tenants" probably took up residence the day a chicken feed pan emptied over his head. He owns a business specialising in cleaning large chicken sheds.
"For years I had no idea what was wrong. I had been hearing continual bubble and squeak noises in my ears and it was worse at night. Sometimes I would get up in the morning and think I would be lucky if I had got any sleep.
"And there was movement. That was the worst - the itch. Many times during the day and night I would stick my fingers and cotton buds in my ears to try and relieve the itch. It was unreachable."
The 49-year-old twice visited his doctor, who flushed his ears out with warm water. There was no respite.
He experienced short-term relief when a nurse suctioned his ear out.
"Then I read an article on tinnitus - about noises in your ears - and I thought, 'I am getting older, that's what I have. I will just have to learn to live with it."'
As a last ditch attempt late last year he visited Tolbecs Ear Centre in Hamilton. "A nurse there took one look and called in her boss and others. Then the microbiologist got called in. They were all quite excited," Mr Balvert said.
Centre director Theresa O'Leary was amazed to see an infestation of "very active, tiny, bulbous, semi-transparent mites moving around in a moist layer and white eggs present all over the canal and eardrum.
"There were about a 100 of them. It was a well-stocked breeding ground."
Ms O'Leary used suction to remove all visible mites and eggs.
"But, it wasn't long before hidden eggs hatched and the tap-dance on Paul's eardrum began again," she said.
More suctioning followed and she consulted Waikato Hospital clinical microbiologist Dr Chris Mansell to help identify the mites and aid her investigations into an anti-mite agent.
Dr Mansell said the unprecedented nature of the case meant treatment was difficult. They settled on a liquid used for scabies and headlice.
Soaking the ear with that product, combined with further suctioning, has done the job.
Last week Mr Balvert returned for a final checkup after celebrating undisturbed sleep.
Dr Mansell says about 80 per cent of microbiologists' work involves the regular and routine and 15 per cent involves the out-of-the-ordinary.
"Then there's a trickle of things nobody has described or even seen. This falls into that category. He must be a pretty stoical person to have lived with this."
- Monique Balvert-O'Connor is Paul Balvert's sister.
