Remove a Bug from Your Ear

A bug in an ear can be quite scary. Bugs, such as moths, cockroaches, ladybugs, and beetles, can crawl into ears while you sleep or during outdoor activities. [1] Entomologists suspect that bugs crawl into ear canals to keep warm or keep safe. Whatever the reason, a bug in the ear is no fun. You will need to remove the insect to avoid hearing loss, ear damage, and infection.

Steps

Preparing For Removal

  1. Identify if you have a bug in your ear. Your ears can be sensitive for many reasons. They can be tender because of allergies or weather changes. If you have a bug in your ear, you may experience pain, swelling, blood, and crackling. You may even feel biting or stinging. [2] You may also experience hearing loss or dizziness.
  2. Stay calm! While a bug in the ear may be scary, it is best to stay calm in this situation. Being too active may lodge the bug further in your ear or cause it to crawl further back, or cause damage to the sensitive inner ear or eardrum.
  3. Avoid using tools in your ear. You do not want to jam the bug further in your ear or risk accidentally hurting yourself further. There are a lot of nerve endings in the ear. You can damage these nerves by using tools such as cotton swabs or tweezers. Do not try and pry the bug out. [3]
  4. Locate the bug. If the bug has crawled all the way against your eardrum, you may want to consider a trip to your doctor to remove it. Have someone shine a flashlight or a lighted magnifying glass in your ear to attempt to locate and identify the creature. This can help to diagnose the bug's location as well as the type of bug.
  5. Get into a comfortable position. To set up for removal, you want to get into a comfortable position. This might be sitting somewhere comfortable with your head tilted to the side so that you or a friend can easily access the ear. You might find it comfortable to lay on your side with your ear facing the ceiling.

Removing the Bug

  1. Wiggle your ears. One way to try to remove a bug in your ear is to use gravity. Tilt your ear toward the ground and attempt to wiggle your ear. Grasp the pinna (outside of the ear) and give it a wiggle. [4] If the bug is not too far into your ear canal, it may fall out on its own.
  2. Let the bug make its way out on its own. If the bug is still alive and is not too far inside of the ear canal, it may simply come out on its own. If you stay calm and keep objects (like fingers) away from your ears, there is a chance that the bug will find its way back out of your ear.
  3. Flush the ear with warm water with a dropper or a bulb syringe. Hold your head upright and stretch the ear canal by pulling the outer ear. Put a steady stream of warm water into your ear. Tilt your head to the side to drain out your ear. [5] Do not irrigate your ear if you think your ear drum has been ruptured to avoid causing additional damage.
  4. Use mineral oil to kill the bug. Use a drop or two of mineral, baby, or olive oil inside your ear canal to kill the insect. This can help you to avoid stinging or eardrum rupture from scratching or biting. [6]
  5. Go to a doctor for suction. A doctor or medical professional can use a special suction device, commonly used to remove ear wax, to attempt to remove the bug. This may be dangerous to try on your own, so make sure you visit an emergency room or urgent care clinic an allow a professional to remove the bug for you.

Recovering From Bug Removal

  1. Inspect the bug for missing parts. Make sure that you have removed the entire bug from your ear. If you missed any parts, it may cause further problems such as an ear infection. Carefully inspect whatever objects you remove from your ears.
  2. Take it easy. Removing a live animal from your ear is a stressful procedure. Flushing or suctioning your ears may also cause slight dizziness due to stress on the middle ear. Avoid standing up too quickly and strenuous exercise for at least a day after the procedure.
  3. Watch for signs of infection. The bug may have caused damage in your ear before it was completely removed[7]. Signs of an ear infection include swelling, dizziness, hearing loss, fever, and pain. [8]
  4. Follow up with a doctor. If you are unsure if you have removed all of the insect, or you are worried about infection, make an appointment with your family physician to make sure you are completely healthy. They may refer you to a Otolaryngologist, an ear specialist, for follow up diagnostics.

Warnings

  • Never try to remove an insect with tweezers, bobby pins, cotton swabs or any other object. This will only lodge the insect deeper in the ear canal, making removal even more difficult. It can also damage the eardrum leading to permanent hearing loss.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.scmp.com/article/631824/fyi-do-bugs-really-crawl-peoples-ears-how-can-you-get-them-out
  2. ↑ http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/09/bug_in_the_ear_how_to_know_if_an_insect_crawled_in_your_ear_and_how_to_get.html
  3. ↑ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94855186
  4. ↑ http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/Outer-Ear/
  5. ↑ https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000979.htm
  6. ↑ https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000052.htm
  7. ↑ https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=90&ContentID=P02828
  8. ↑ https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000638.htm

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