A dead butterfly in a woman’s ear created an inflammation

When an animal flew into her ear, Ms. Hoa, not knowing it was a butterfly, used saline to drop into her ear “to let it float out on its own.” Two days later, she went to Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City for examination. The otoscopy doctor found that the butterfly, about 2×3 cm in size, was dead and stuck to the left ear canal, creating an inflammation and congestion.

On December 23, M.D. Nguyen Minh Tu, Ear, Nose and Throat Center, said that the butterfly caused inflammation of the left ear canal, without causing damage to the middle ear and eardrum. The endoscopy doctor removed the dead butterfly, cleaned the patient’s ear and prescribed medication to treat inflammation.

When an insect gets into the ear, if it is still alive, it will often struggle, wiggle, and even bite, causing the ear to bleed, swell, rupture the eardrum, and cause long-term infection leading to otitis media. The infection can spread to the mastoid bone and brain organizations causing meningitis, brain abscess, and facial paralysis.

Signs of insects in the ear include feeling buzzing, uncomfortable, hearing buzzing or movement in the ear, sharp pain, discharge, and hearing loss. Dr. Tu recommends that patients do not arbitrarily drop oil or alcohol into their ears because they can cause infection or deep damage. Do not hit the head, ears or try to use objects to catch insects because it is easy for them to run deep inside. Patients should immediately go to a medical facility for safe treatment by a doctor.

The initial treatment when an insect enters your ear is to lie on your side or tilt your head towards the ear the insect entered. Use a small amount of physiological saline to submerge the insect to suffocate, then tilt its head to let it fall out. If you don’t see insects coming out, you should go to the hospital so the doctor can remove the foreign object, clean your ears, and apply drops to prevent infection.