Cockroaches can indeed crawl into a human ear - the terrible truth

It sounds like a childhood scary story or the plot of a cheap horror movie, but it's reality: cockroaches are indeed capable of crawling into a human's ear.

This happens especially often in hot countries where insects are active around the clock. The warm, dark, and moist space of the human ear seems like a safe shelter to a cockroach - and it calmly makes its way in there.

This usually happens when a person is sleeping. A cockroach may crawl inside, attracted by the smell of sweat, sulfur, or simply sensing warmth. Inside, it begins to move, scratch, wiggle its antennae and legs, causing severe discomfort, itching, rustling, and sometimes - sharp pain. Some people even hear a "buzzing" if the insect gets stuck wings-first and cannot get out.

Particularly frightening is that not everyone immediately realizes that they have a cockroach in their ear. Many mistake the sensations for ear wax, infection, or pressure. In attempts to relieve the pain, a person might drip oil, water, or alcohol into the ear, which only worsens the situation: the cockroach may die inside, inflammation begins, and sometimes infection.

Medical statistics confirm: cases of cockroaches crawling into human ears are regularly recorded in many countries. Sometimes doctors extract a live insect, sometimes a dead one. There have been cases where cockroaches remained in the ear for more than a day, managing to scratch the eardrum or cause swelling.

Some particularly resilient specimens even managed to lay eggs if they were inside long enough. Of course, this is extremely rare, but the fact itself is frightening.

If you suddenly have a feeling that something is moving in your ear, don't panic, but don't delay either. Under no circumstances should you use a cotton swab or tweezers - you might push the insect even deeper. It's better to see a doctor immediately, who will carefully remove the uninvited "guest" under local anesthesia.

The world is full of surprises, and some of them might end up right in our heads - literally.