9-year-old boy suffered an annoying buzzing in his ear for days. Doctors were shocked by what they found inside.
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It’s that time of year again when we can finally brush away the cobwebs of winter and enjoy the beauty of nature.
With spring comes vibrant colors and wildlife emerging from hibernation — such a wonderful sight. But one thing that’s not so wonderful: ticks.
These tiny arachnids, eager to latch onto our skin, are not just a nuisance — they can also be dangerous because of the diseases they may carry.
We’re often warned to be cautious in wooded areas or orchards, but one child received an unexpected surprise after playing outside at school.
And the location where the tick was found caused particular concern.
A 9-year-old boy from Connecticut complained to his mother about a buzzing sound in his ear.
After three days of hearing the noise and experiencing a strange sensation, he was taken to Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital.
He wasn’t in pain, and his hearing was unaffected — making his complaint a bit of a mystery at first.
When asked what he had been doing recently, the boy simply said he had been playing outside — nothing unusual.
Dr. Eric Waldman, co-author of a report in the New England Journal of Medicine and head of pediatric otolaryngology at the hospital, looked inside the boy’s ear and saw something shocking.
A tick had embedded itself in his right eardrum and was surrounded by inflamed tissue.
A foreign body
Dr. David Kasle, a co-author of the report, explained: “In any child, removing a foreign body from the ear is difficult — but especially in this case.”
The tick’s mouthparts had burrowed into the boy’s ear, making removal particularly challenging.
In a very delicate procedure, the child was put under anesthesia, and specialized instruments were used to extract the tick from his ear.
No fever or rash
The tick was identified as a dog tick — a species every dog owner knows well, and one commonly found in the summertime.
Dr. Kasle treated the boy with antibiotic ear drops, and a month later he was doing just fine, with no fever or rash.
This case is highly unusual — but it could happen to anyone.
Please share this story to warn others about ticks, and make sure all precautions are taken to help keep them away from us.
