Doctors Pull A Live Critter From Man’s Ear [And There’s Video If You Can Handle It!]

A man from Southern India has given a whole new meaning to the old saying “put a bug in someone’s ear.”

The man recently went to the doctor, complaining of an ear ache. After examining the man, the doctor informed his patient that he had a two-inch bug firmly lodged in his ear canal, and that it would need to be removed. And the doctor had the great idea of videotaping the extraction of the bug to share with the world. (Lucky us, right?)

Warning: The footage below really is disturbing… especially when, after the doctor gently removes the bug from the man’s ear by tugging on one of its legs with tweezers, the bug suddenly squirms to life, like something straight out of a horror movie. Even more horrifying is the way it seems to reach for the man’s ear again… and the size of it is pretty impressive, as well.

Michael Sweet, who is an expert in invertebrate biology and lecturer at the University of Derby, told the Daily Star that the bug pulled from the man’s ear is likely just an Indian house cricket.

“These critters are known to be an invasive species, appearing all over the globe,” said Sweet. “It is likely this cricket crawled into the man’s ear while he was sleeping and was just hiding there until night came around.”

The doctor doesn’t believed the creeping cricket did his patient any harm, fortunately… at least physically, anyhow. It could be that the fact that he had a live cricket burrowing around near his brain could cause some foreseeable mental discomfort, though.

Sweet continued, “During the night or early evening he [the cricket] would have likely crawled out on its own and gone on its way,” which is somewhat comforting for those who are now carefully checking their ears for any sign of insect infestation.

Sweet then added, “This beastie will have just been uncomfortable for the victim. However, it could possibly have done some damage to the inner-ear which would have resulted in temporary balance and hearing issues.”

And no worries if you think you may have a bug in your own ear — plenty of websites tell potential bug-in-ear victims exactly what to do when there is a suspected creature in one’s ear, because apparently this is a thing that happens. There are a number of different insects that can, will, and have entered human ears, including gnats, moths, beetles, and, yes, roaches. Small, winged insects have difficulty flying back out once they enter the ear. Even creepier is the fact that larger insects (like, oh, say a roach) cannot turn around and they are unable to crawl backwards. And so they just keep struggling in attempt to get out of the ear, resulting in some painful and frightening motions.

Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite… or stay awake with your hands placed protectively over your ears. Totally up to you.