Erik Waldman, M.D. and David Kasle, M.D. both work with the Yale-New Haven Hospital. They recently had an experience that inspired them to share it with the world. Thanks to the New England Journal of Medicine, we are now able to learn more about what they went through on this fateful day. A 9 year old patient recently had a very unique issue.
The boy was experiencing a buzzing noise that would not go away. No matter how hard he tried, the buzzing was incessant. He felt as if something was inside of his ear. We cannot begin to imagine how annoying this must have been for him. Once he was taken to the hospital, they set about the task of finding out what was wrong with the young man.
A tick was discovered inside of the boy’s ear! To make matters worse, the animal had burrowed its way deep within the membrane of the eardrum. The doctors were going to have their hands full. The membrane had become inflamed as a result of the tick infestation. An operative microscope was used at first but the medical team did not have any luck.
This was one tick that did not want to come out. It had made a home for itself inside of the boy’s ear. After the initial attempt failed, the boy was taken to be placed under general anesthesia. The tick was surgically extracted from the ear and he was no worse for the wear. These types of occurrences tend to be far more common than the average parent would expect.
All sorts of bugs can attach themselves to the eardrums when we are not careful. This is a story that needs to be shared with parents everywhere. After all, even the most prepared families can experience these sorts of issues. If the ear is red or foul liquid can be detected, these are both signs that a bug has been able to make its way inside.
If the child shows any discomfort whatsoever, the parent should receive medical assistance right away. Don’t take any risks in this regard. To learn more about what takes place when foreign bodies enter the ear and how to take care of these issues, be sure to check out the video below. It is always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to the ears, right? Let’s all do our part to keep our little ones safe.
