Insect in your ear: it’s the chance that it happens to you

“Cockroaches don’t like to swim at all,” is Roy Kleukers of EIS Knowledge Center Insects’ first reaction to the story. “The cockroach may have crawled out at another time.”

According to him, such insects crawling inside a human being are very exceptional. “Many insects hide between skirting boards and hide behind the bark of trees. It is then very fortuitous if such an animal creeps into a person. People are a danger for most insects,” he explains. he.

But that doesn’t mean we never ingest insects. “It naturally happens that you ingest aphids, beetles or mosquitoes while riding your bike. You will also sometimes swallow a spider in your sleep. You don’t notice it, it can’t hurt,” says Kleukers.

This is also what general practitioner Job Nievaart says. “If an animal enters through the mouth, you reflexively spit it out. If it stays in place, the insect ends up in your stomach and the stomach acid quickly kills the animal,” he tells EditieNL. “A wasp is another story: it can sting a little.”

Pick with your little finger

In almost thirty years as a general practitioner, Nievaart has never seen an insect crawling in an ear. “Only once did someone come here thinking they had a fly in their ear, but it wasn’t there when I looked,” he says. “It’s strange that this GP in New Zealand missed the cockroach because it’s not a very small animal and you can often see the ear canal quite well.”

Still, a bug in your ear can’t hurt too much. “Unless it stings or bites.” If a bug flies into your ear, he says it’s best to pick it with your little finger to get the bug out. “If it still doesn’t come out, you can try with water. But don’t worry: your ear is built in such a way that something won’t go in easily.”