I believe many people have experienced small insects in their ears. At this time, the "experienced" old man will tell you that if you drop a few drops of sesame oil into your ears, the insects will come out. Is this "ancestral recipe" really effective? The doctor said that doing so can only increase the difficulty coefficient of insect removal. So, what should I do if there is a foreign body in my ear? Today I'll share some handling skills with you. What can we put in our ears? You know what? Ears, a magical place, can contain a lot of things. If you don't believe it, let's have a look. Having the ears of moths; Cotton wadding with a cotton swab into the ear; Cockroaches enter the ears of pregnant women. Clinically, we once met an electric welder who splashed sparks into the ear, because there was an impact when splashing into the ear canal, breaking through the tympanic membrane and entering the middle ear. In order to prevent further infection, we admitted the patient to the emergency hospital and removed the foreign body surgically. Think about it. It's really hard to find out if the doctor doesn't have golden eyes. Types of foreign bodies in external auditory canal: Animal foreign bodies, such as insects. Among all kinds of insects, cockroaches are the most common, because they like the dark and humid environment. Think about the ubiquitous cockroaches walking in your ears, isn't it terrible; Plant, such as beans, wheat grains, etc; Non biological foreign bodies, such as small toys, stones, yarn strips, plasticine, etc., are common in children. Note that these two approaches are absolutely wrong The size, shape, location and type of foreign body are different, and the clinical manifestations of foreign body in the ear are also different: For small and non irritating foreign bodies, they may remain for a long time without any symptoms; Larger foreign bodies can cause earache, tinnitus, hearing loss, reflex cough, etc. Live insects can crawl in the external auditory canal, which can cause severe earache and tinnitus; After the plant foreign body expands in water, it can compress the external auditory canal or cause local inflammation, resulting in swelling and pain in the ear. The deeper the location, the more obvious the symptoms. Foreign bodies that easily penetrate the tympanic membrane, such as cotton swabs, pencil tips, branches and hairpins, often cause pain, dizziness, ear pus, and even hearing loss and facial paralysis. Note that the following two practices are absolutely wrong! First, try to pull out the insect that enters the ear. In this way, if you accidentally kill the insect and leave the body in your ears, you will be miserable and increase the risk of infection. The second is to drip vegetable oil. This will only make it more difficult for doctors to remove the insects. Foreign bodies are treated differently Below, we recommend corresponding treatment measures for different foreign bodies in the ear: 1. For round and smooth foreign bodies, foreign body hooks and other instruments can be used to cross the foreign bodies along the gap and hook them out. For children who cannot cooperate, do not clamp them with tweezers to prevent the foreign body from being pushed into the depth and damaging the tympanic membrane. The foreign body can be removed under general anesthesia. 2. When the foreign matter is fine, it can be washed out by washing method. Contraindication of flushing method: Patients with otitis media and perforation of tympanic membrane; Tympanic membrane was damaged and perforated by foreign bodies or combined with foreign bodies in middle ear; Plant foreign matter (such as beans) is easy to expand in case of water; Sharp polygonal foreign bodies; Lime reacts with water. 3. Live insects can be dropped with 2% tetracaine and 70% ethanol to be taken out or washed out with tweezers after anesthesia. Small flying insects are common in summer, and can also be lured out by light. 4. Plant foreign bodies that have been swollen should be dropped with 95% ethanol to dehydrate them, and then taken out after shrinking. Fragile foreign matters can also be sucked out by suction in several times. 5. If there is secondary infection in the external auditory canal, anti infection treatment shall be carried out first, and the foreign body shall be removed after the inflammation subsides, or the external auditory canal inflammation shall be actively treated after removal. In addition, remind you to pay attention to ear hygiene at ordinary times, and do not use cotton swabs to pull out your ears; For children, parents should check or ask irregularly. Once foreign bodies in the external auditory canal are found, do not try to remove them by themselves, because repeated attempts will reduce the success rate of foreign bodies removal in the external auditory canal and even increase the possibility of complications. They should see the otolaryngology department in time. (text / Ge Xinying, Du Jingyan, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital)