WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT: A 21-year-old woman had complained of a ‘piercing’ pain in her right ear, coupled with progressive hearing loss, vertigo, nausea and tinnitus. Then medics found the grim cause
A 21-year-old woman had complained of a ‘piercing’ pain in her right ear, coupled with progressive hearing loss, vertigo, nausea and tinnitus (stock)(Image: Getty Images)
A woman’s sudden ear pain, hearing loss and dizziness turned out to have a skin-crawling cause.
Those with a severe phobia of all things creepy and crawly should look away now. A 21-year-old from Dharan, Nepal, had complained about a “piercing” pain in her right ear, along with hearing loss, dizziness, nausea and tinnitus (ringing in the ear). Her symptoms had suddenly sprung up about a week before she sought medical help, according to her doctors’ report in the Journal of Medical Case Reports. on January 7.
Upon examination at the B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan, medics found her right ear canal inflamed and congested.
The 21-year-old’s symptoms had suddenly sprung up about a week before she sought help (stock)(Image: Getty Images)
Tests indicated “severe-to-profound” hearing loss, hinting at nerve damage, but then examiners found the grim root cause of the issue.
On closer inspection a foreign body was found lodged in the skin of the woman’s inner ear. Which the doctors soon realised was a dead tick.
The the study authors said that the case highlighted the urgency of medical intervention for ear-related tick infestations. They warned that such cases could lead to dire outcomes like permanent hearing loss or facial paralysis due to neurotoxic substances in tick saliva.
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The medical team suggested the patient’s discomfort was likely not due to the tick itself, but rather an enzyme in the creature’s saliva causing inflammation. This inflammation can lead to acute labyrinthitis, an inner ear infection that can disrupt balance and cause nausea and tinnitus, according to the British Medical Journal.
The doctors “delicately dislodged” the deceased tick from the woman’s ear using a suction tool and forceps, and prescribed anti-inflammatory medication. A month after the procedure, all of the woman’s symptoms had disappeared.
However, the woman got off lightly as, although uncommon, tick infestations in the ear can be extremely serious.
“Ticks release neurotoxins inhibiting acetylcholine, a chemical messenger involved in muscle control,” the medics noted. Interfering with acetylcholine can potentially trigger respiratory distress or paralysis.
Generally speaking, ticks can transmit a variety of diseases, including Lyme disease and the potentially deadly Powassan virus.