What happen when your ear starts buzzing one day? David Kasle and Erik Waldman, both M.Ds., shared a story on a possible explanation. In fact, the doctors admitted a 9-year-old patient with a very particular problem.
The boy, born in Connecticut, complained of an ear buzz which happened after something got stuck in his ear. After being hospitalized, the doctors uncovered the boy had a bug trapped inside his ear, stuck inside the air membrane.
The tick caused for a severe inflammation in the area, which prevented the doctors from extracting the bug. As the operative microscope failed its mission, the boy had to undergo a general anesthesia surgery. Fortunately, ‘After extraction of the tick, the patient had no signs or symptoms suggestive of systemic illness,’ the doctors confirmed.
A Frequent Occurrence.
To the doctors, this type of an accident is not uncommon among patients. Dr. Darius Kohan, explained, ‘We have often removed roaches, flies, all sort of bugs, including ticks, attached to the canal or eardrum. Fortunately, the bugs usually do not survive for long, and they are not difficult to remove,’ he said.
‘For children, we take them to the operating room for sedation since it is difficult for them to cooperate in the office during a procedure. For adults, usually, a local anesthetic in the ear is all they need.
If the bug is alive, irrigating the ear with mineral oil and waiting 10 minutes usually suffices to kill them before we remove them under microscopic guidance or with endoscopes.’
‘Something is Stuck in My Ear’ Symptoms.
The risks of having something trapped in your ear elevates in cases of cognitive issues or Alzheimer’s. Especially at risk are small children suffering these symptoms. Some of the symptoms which point to an object stuck in your ear include:
- Inflammation in the ear,
- Redness in the ear area
- Pus,
- Uncomfortable smell,
- Liquid Drainage,
- Tilting one ear to the side,
- Scratching the ear area over and over.
Some of the most harmful objects to get stuck in your ear include batteries, which should urge you to the doctor’s office at once. Other known objects stuck in the ear include dry food or crumbs, an insect or a minor toy. While the latter don’t cause trouble for 24H after getting stuck, batteries can show serious consequences only hours after being inside the ear.
On top of it all, an object stuck in the ear can inflame and impact the information-receiving nerves in the brain.
If we are talking about a bug stuck in your ear, some of the symptoms to recognize this include:
- Fullness inside the ear,
- Bleeding or pus
- Hearing issues
Removing an Object/Insect from the Ear.
For insects: use a flashlight to inspect what’s inside the ear canal. In some cases, insects tend to follow the light and will get out on their own. If this fails, use some olive oil inside the ear and try flushing the insect out of the canal. Under no circumstances use Q-tips, pins or similar objects to extract the beetle.
For remaining objects: tilt the head to the side and inspect the canal. If the object is visible, use tweezers to remove it. If not, it the best thing to do is seek medical assistance. Again, don’t force other objects inside the ear in effort to remove the stuck item, as you are risking damaging the eardrum.
Causes of Ear Buzzing.
Insects are not always to blame about an existing ear buzzing or ringing. In fact, this sensation can be a completely different problem related to:
- Hearing loss (due to old age)
- Hearing exceptionally loud noises
- Excessive ear wax
- Certain meds like aspirin, certain antibiotics, particular antidepressants, and certain cancer drugs
- Ear and sinus infection
- TMJ problems and pains
- Blood pressure in escalations
- Meniere’s disease
- Head or neck injuries
- Fibromyalgia
- Lyme disease
Ear ringing or tinnitus can be treated with home remedies, too, but it is always recommended you visit your doctor before doing anything else. Safety first!
