41 Action NewsA woman from Kansas went to see a doctor when she believed she had water in her ear that wouldn’t go away.
Susie Torres left medical professionals baffled when they first checked her ear, expecting to find some trapped water.
However, on closer inspection, the nurse discovered what she believed to be an insect burrowed inside Torres’ ear.
She told 41 Action News:
She ran out and said I’m going to get a couple more people. She then said, ‘I think you have an insect in there.
At that point, Torres had no idea what kind of creature lay in her ear, so she stayed calm and didn’t panic, when more doctors came to inspect her ear.
The Kansas resident continued:
She came back in and told me it was a spider.
They had a few tools and worked their magic and got it out.
Wikipedia CommonsDoctors later informed Torres it had actually been a highly venomous brown recluse spider hiding inside her ear.
Fortunately, after a check up, doctors were able to confirm she hadn’t been bitten by the dangerous creature.
Torres continued:
I never thought they would crawl in your ear or any part of your body.
A bite from a recluse spider can result in itching, muscle pain, increased sweating, headaches, nausea, and fever, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The organisation suggests seeking treatment from a medical professional should anyone suspect they’ve received a bite from the venomous spider.
Although Torres doesn’t know where the spider came from, or how it managed to get into her ear, she’s revealed she’ll now be taking precautions to protect her ears from creepy crawlies when she sleeps in future.
Wikipedia CommonsShe said:
I went and put some cotton balls in my ear last night, because I did not have any ear plugs.
I’m pretty terrified of spiders.
Brown recluse spiders are usually between six and 20 millimetres, however they can grow to be bigger. Although they’re most commonly light to medium brown in colour, they can range from a whitish colour to dark brown or blackish grey.
They are nicknamed the fiddleback spider because of a black marking down their side which looks like a violin.
Adult brown recluse spiders usually live between one and two years, so had meddical professionals not intervened Susie may have been stuck with the unwanted inhabitant of her ear for some time.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.