Doctor finds spiders in ear of boy with earache

[ZeoBandit]

This is just not right:


Doctor finds spiders in ear of boy with earache
POSTED: 12:09 p.m. EDT, May 7, 2007
Story Highlights
• Boy with an earache goes to the doctor
• Doctor discovers spiders living in boy's ear
• "They were walking on my eardrums," Jesse Courtney said.
• Spiders made faint cracking sound, like Rice Krispies cereal

ALBANY, Oregon (AP) -- These guys were not exactly Snap, Crackle and Pop.

What began as a faint popping in a 9-year-old boy's ear -- "like Rice Krispies" -- ended up as an earache, and the doctor's diagnosis was that a pair of spiders made a home in the ear.

"They were walking on my eardrums," Jesse Courtney said.(Watch how an earache led to the creepy discovery )

One of the spiders was still alive after the doctor flushed the fourth-grader's left ear canal. His mother, Diane Courtney, said her son insisted he kept hearing a faint popping in his ear -- "like Rice Krispies."

Dr. David Irvine said it looked like the boy had something in his ear when he examined him.

When he irrigated the ear, the first spider came out, dead. The other spider took a second dousing before it emerged, still alive. Both were about the size of a pencil eraser.

Jesse was given the spiders -- now both dead -- as a souvenir. He has taken them to school and his mother has taken them to work.

[Scotty]

Ewww.

[muffdiver]

That's earrie stuff....

[InTheBeginning]

[vhrocker]

That's earrie stuff....

[FORD]

Occasionally I have spider problems in my house, including my bedroom. I'm not really surprised by this at all. But with my earwax buildup, any spider who dared go in wouldn't be coming out. Guess the dumb little bastards just think it's another cave that would make a good nest. Maybe they eat the dust mites that supposedly live in everyone's mattresses?

[muffdiver]

You should be in the candle business Ford ,with all that earwax....

[FORD]

You should be in the candle business Ford ,with all that earwax....

Yeah, but who would actually BUY one? Could you imagine what they would smell like, burning?

[muffdiver]

LOL...

[chefcraig]

Yeah, but who would actually BUY one? Could you imagine what they would smell like, burning?

Some guy was selling candles a few years ago that one would stick in one's ear, LIT, in order to draw out excessive ear wax. Needless to say, the idea was never truly embraced by the public.

[Eddie's Little Monster]

wasn't there a story some years back about Ed waking up in his Boston hotel room with a BAD headache and he went to the hospital and they found a beetle in his ear?

I'm serious, I know I read that somewhere

[muffdiver]

Yeah, it was Ringo snuggling up to him.....

[G3fan]

wasn't there a story some years back about Ed waking up in his Boston hotel room with a BAD headache and he went to the hospital and they found a beetle in his ear?

I'm serious, I know I read that somewhere

I have the original Van Halen encyclopedia and I think it said it was an inch-long Junebug. I think it was his and Val's anniversary.

[FORD]

Some guy was selling candles a few years ago that one would stick in one's ear, LIT, in order to draw out excessive ear wax. Needless to say, the idea was never truly embraced by the public.

I've seen those things. The science behind the idea is valid. When you burn a regular candle, the wick actually draws the wax up from the bottom of the candle. It only appears to be burning from the top down because the flame melts the wax at the top. So if you had a candle stuck in your ear, it would be drawing that earwax out by the exact same process.

I never tried them because I was sure I'd catch my hair on fire if I did. They might still be available at herbal supplement stores or some other organic type of place. I don't get the wax problem nearly as bad now as I did when I was a kid, but it might be kinda cool to try the ear candles out in the interests of science.

[Limecuda]

I have tried those ear candles. It definitely sounds funny when lit. After the candle burns down you can cut the paper holding the candle. You'd be amazed at what comes out of your head even after you think you have cleaned them up.