You are laying down on your comfortable bed in a dimly lit room. Your favourite soothing music plays in the background putting you in the mood. Covering yourself with your blanket, your eyes become heavy, ready to fall asleep. So selesa. Yawn.
Suddenly, you have this weird tingling sensation in your left ear, followed by buzzing noises, then the shocking pain.
Your natural reaction is to immediately dig your finger into your ear, jangan weh!
Don’t do that! This might lead to more severe implications. So, learn what you actually need to do if this horrific incident happens. It may save your inner ear from critical damage!
Malaysian doctor, Dr Mohd Shaiful Nizam shared his wisdom in a Twitter thread, advising people how to deal with the situation properly.
1. You need to calm yourself down
In any situation, be it for kids and adults, being calm will always lead to a better outcome. So, try not to panic and attempt unnecessary bug removing procedures.
2. DO NOT insert cotton buds, ear picks or anything else into your ear
Victims most of the time will try to poke and nudge these items with the hopes of pulling the insect out. This is a wrong move. You are at risk of pushing the insect deeper into your ear canal and injuring your eardrums.
3. You SHOULD put a few drops of olive oil into your ear
This will suffocate and kill the insect to ensure it does not do any damage within your ears, especially if its a large insect like spider or cockroach.
4. If you see it coming out, pull it out lah! But gently ok?
If you are lucky, the insect will make its move to the opening of the ear. As soon as you see a part of it coming out, use your finger or small tweezers to pull it out gently. Don’t use too much force as the insect might go back into your ear.
5. If it is still inside, get to the doctor fast!
You might have stopped or even killed the insect but it is still lodged up deep in your ear. So you have to move fast. Visit the doctor so that he or she can help you remove it safely. A dead insect in the ear canal can cause severe infection.
Having an insect inside your ear is a nightmare. Imagine have to go through the thought of a small cockroach crawling inside and making a home out of your ear. Scary weh!
But this can be prevented by keeping your room clean. Sometimes we are just unlucky and it will still happen to us. So follow the early steps given by Dr Mohd Shaiful Nizam and more importantly, keep calm!
Also read: Woman Suffers Severe Bug Bites and Damaged Luggage On BKK-SG Flight