Man Complaining of Earache Discovers 26 Cockroaches Living in His Ear

A man in China got a disturbing diagnosis when he went to the hospital for an earache. A 19-year-old patient identified only as Mr. Li had 26 cockroaches living in his ear canal.

According to a report by MSN, Li’s doctors believe that a pregnant cockroach crawled into Li’s ear in his sleep and laid her eggs there. After they hatched, his head became a swarm, ultimately leading to the itching and pain he complained of when he went to Chang’an Xiaobian Hospital in Dongguan.

The most horrifying part is that doctors think the mother of the cockroach hoard had been in Li’s ear for several weeks. They believe that once the eggs hatched, the discomfort finally began to register for Li.

“We saw an insect-shaped object blocking his ear canal completely,” Dr. Yang Jing, told TVS. Doctors later added that if Li had come to the hospital any later, his ear would have been “completely destroyed.” Li would have suffered complete hearing loss on that side as well as infection and possible disfiguration.

The doctors say they had to flush Li’s ear out and remove a large amount of wax, which the cockroaches were using to stay warm and breed in. Even doctors were amazed by the discovery of the small tribe of roaches. Though there have been plenty of cases of insects becoming trapped in a human ear, the volume of cockroaches shocked the medical staff.