Strange buzzing in the ear: Cockroach chewed into Chinese woman's eardrum

Cockroach started chewing a hole in a Chinese woman's eardrum. Photo / Getty Images

A woman in southern China had a close call with a cockroach after the insect crawled into her ear and started chewing a hole in her eardrum, Chinese media reported.

A doctor at Renkang Hospital in Dongguan, Guangdong province, extracted the cockroach two days after it crawled into the 20-year-old woman's ear while she was asleep, Guangzhou Daily reported.

"I felt as if needles were being poked in my ear at that time," the woman said.

"I didn't expect it would be a cockroach.

"I thought the pain was from when I tried to scoop out earwax with an earbud."

She later realised it was a bug and tried to kill it by putting some drops of oil in her ear.

"Later it seemed to have stopped moving and I was busy with work, so I left it there for two days before heading to the hospital," she said.

Huang Dan, a doctor at the hospital, extracted the insect.

Huang said it was a German cockroach and it had nibbled a small hole in the woman's eardrum, resulting in serious bleeding.

He said he usually saw one or two similar cases a month. "Most of the patients live on the first floor where the environment is humid, there's poor hygiene and it's riddled with insects such as cockroaches."

Huang said the eardrum was very sensitive and people with similar pain typically sought medical attention immediately because it was unbearable.

- South China Morning Post