GMA News Online News » Weird and Wacky

Here's a tale not for the faint of heart - or ear.

 

For several days, a spider made itself right at home inside a Taiwanese woman's ear, even spinning its web there.

 

The unusual housing arrangement surprised the woman, a resident of the Taichung area, according to a report on Taiwan's Central News Agency late Monday.

 

"The tiny cobweb was spread out in the ear. It looked quite amazing," CNA quoted the doctor as saying.

 

It quoted the woman as saying the spider may have run into her ear because she may have disturbed it while cleaning her house.

 

According to the CNA report, the doctor had to use droplets to kill the spider then snatch it before clearing the web from the woman's ear.

 

While the CNA report did not name the woman, it described her as 49 years old.

 

It said the woman first consulted the doctor in January in the city's Cheng Ching General Hospital.

 

She had complained of itchiness and stinging in her left ear for several days.

 

Liu Po-jen, director of the hospital's ear-nose-throat department, said a check found the 3-mm spider hiding in the woman's ear canal.

 

Surprised

 

The CNA report said the woman was not the only one surprised - even the doctor was.

 

He said that while he had seen unusual items in the ears from insects to stones to children's toys, he had never seen an actual spider web in a person's ear.

 

The incident prompted him to remind the public not to pick their ears if they suspect tiny creatures are in there because they might crawl deeper inside.

 

Instead, he suggested dropping some oil into the ear to kill the intruder and then visiting a doctor. — RSJ, GMA News