Katie Holley woke up abruptly one night from a dead sleep, feeling as though something was in her ear. She was right. But that “something” is truly horrifying. She had a live cockroach inside her ear! And getting it out was a nightmare.
Believe it or not, some folks are calling cockroach milk the new superfood. Researchers say milk from pregnant cockroaches holds more protein than cow’s milk — or any milk for that matter aside from buffalo milk.
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But don’t get too squeamish (or excited, if you’re into that kind of thing) just yet. There’s currently no real future for any mass production of cockroach milk. Collecting even the smallest amount of milk is an arduous task, which also kills the bug in the process. So, researchers have deemed the whole procedure "neither feasible nor efficient."
But, if the just idea of drinking or eating from a cockroach makes your skin crawl, then say a few prayers for Katie Holley. She’d probably take a glass of cockroach milk over her real-life bizarre story any day!
Sleeping Woman Wakes With Cockroach Inside Her Ear
Katie and her husband purchased their house in Florida about a year ago. The first-time homeowners felt blessed, as the property needed just a few touchups here and there. Their biggest complaint — all the bugs.
Florida’s warm and humid climate is a cockroach’s dream come true. And as Katie and her husband kept spotting them around their home sweet home, they finally called an exterminator.
Credit: Wikipedia
The couple agreed it would be money well spent to have the exterminator come out regularly and spray. They rested easy, thinking they were in the clear.
But then, one night, Katie shot up from a dead sleep.
“It felt like someone had placed a chip of ice in my left earhole,” she recalled.
Katie rushed to the bathroom and gently put a cotton swab in her ear. That’s when she felt something move. Horrified, she pulled out the swab and saw two dark brown, skinny strands stuck to the end. Then the terrible realization hit her — they were legs. There was a cockroach inside her ear!
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This knowledge hit Katie like a ton of bricks. Understandably, she started to lose it. In hysterics, she woke her husband who confirmed her worst fears. Yes — she had a living cockroach inside her ear.
Credit: Thinkstock/AndreyPopov
As you’d imagine, Katie pleaded with her husband to get it out. He grabbed a pair of tweezers and did his best to slowly and carefully pull the bug out. But he only managed to yank off two more legs.
A Frantic Trip To The ER
Katie and her husband frantically got dressed and rushed to the emergency room. All the while, Katie could feel the cockroach inside her ear trying to burrow deeper.
“It was an awful feeling, one that was not necessarily painful, but psychologically torturous,” she says. “Think of that humming sound you hear when you plug your ears and press really hard-that's what I heard and felt, on the left side of my head as the roach tried to crawl. It was bizarre.”
At the hospital, doctors used Lidocaine to kill the cockroach. It worked, but Katie was again tormented by the bug’s movement.
“Feeling a roach in the throes of death, lodged in a very sensitive part of your body, is unlike anything I can adequately explain,” she recalls.
Once the horrific invader was good and dead, doctors worked to remove it from Katie’s ear.
“I would guess that it was about the size of my pinky nail down to my first knuckle,” she said.
Katie went home with some antibiotics. But first, she and her husband stopped at Walmart to pick up some earplugs. Katie thought the nightmarish experience was over.
Well. . . it wasn’t.
Cockroach Inside Her Ear Isn’t Quite Gone
Katie continued to feel pain in the ear, as well as have trouble hearing out of it. At first, she figured it was from all the poking and prodding. But by the end of the week, she worried it may be something else.
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Thankfully, she already had a routine doctor’s appointment coming up with her usual physician. She filled her in on the harrowing ordeal, pointing out she still had some lingering discomfort.
Katie’s doctor took a look and could tell there was some kind of blockage. She had the assistant flush the ear, hoping to clear any excessive wax buildup. Instead, she found more insect body parts.
After all the flushing, the doctor removed six more pieces of the cockroach. Six!
Credit: Self Magazine
By this point, Katie was sobbing. The ER doctors had told her they’d removed the entire bug.
Her physician rubbed her back and tried to console her. She told Katie she was sending her to an ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT) for an emergency visit. The doctor had removed all she could, but she feared there could still be more bug parts lodged in Katie’s ear.
Free At Last
A few hours later, Katie met with the ENT. He confirmed there was still more cockroach carcass inside her ear. He proceeded to remove more legs, the antennae, the upper torso, and the head.
Credit: Self Magazine
Katie was horrified by the knowledge that she’d walked around with a bug in her ear for over a week. The potential for infection is chilling, especially had her physician not been so thorough.
To make matters worse, the ENT informed her that he removes bugs from people’s ears at least once a month. On that day, Katie was his second patient for such a procedure. But he assured her that, this time, every piece of the cockroach inside her ear had been removed.
Still, Katie isn’t giving up sleeping with her earplugs any time soon!
Tips To Avoid Getting A Bug In Your Ear
Katie’s bizarre story is far from common. But bugs do make their way into human ears more often than we’d like to think. (Because let’s be honest, even one case like this is one too many!)
It’s more likely to occur in hot/humid climates, outdoors, or in older homes/buildings with bug infestations. Cockroaches are more active at night and like to try hiding in tight spaces. Flies are actually attracted to the chemicals people emit, which means they could potentially land in your ear and crawl inside.
Here are some tips to deter this from happening.
Tips To Avoid Bugs Crawling Into Your Ears
- Sleep in a clean bed with clean sheets, washing and changing the bedding regularly
- If sleeping outside, use bug repellent and consider earplugs
- Avoid wearing perfume or heavily-scented lotions/shampoo, as they attract bugs
- In areas more prone to bugs, hire an exterminator
- You can try earplugs, but they are probably unnecessary according to Dr. Nancy Troyano, a board-certified entomologist
If the unthinkable happens and you suspect you have a bug inside your ear, here are some tips on what to do.
What To Do If You Have A Bug In Your Ear
- Try to float the bug out with mineral oil, olive oil, or baby oil. Warm the oil (but make sure it isn’t too hot). Then tilt your head so that the ear with the bug inside is pointing up. Pour the oil into the bug ear. It should at least kill the pest, and hopefully, it will float or drain out with the oil.
- Do NOT poke or probe around with a cotton swab or tweezers. It’s tempting, but you could potentially push the bug further into your ear and cause damage.
- Go to the doctor, even if you think you’ve successfully removed the bug on your own. They can check to be sure, as well as remove any parts of the insect potentially left behind using specialty forceps that fit into the ear canal.
- Do not leave the bug inside your ear. It could cause an infection.
Katie’s ordeal was certainly awful. But the timing of her physician’s appointment and the aftercare she received was truly a blessing.
“I am so grateful for my doctor as well as the ENT who fit me in for an emergency visit,” she says. “They are my heroes for helping me through that very traumatic moment in my life.”
We’ll certainly be praying for Katie as she continues to heal, both physically and emotionally, from this terrifying experience. And while it’s sometimes tough to live harmoniously with the creepy crawly side of God’s creations, we trust He has a purpose, even for cockroaches.
"To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.” Job 12:13
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