A WOMAN who thought she was possessed by evil spirits after hearing strange noises in her head has discovered this living in her ear.

Victim Li Peng told doctors she could hear a strange “scratching noise” especially at night, as well as feel a frequent pain in her left ear, according to local media.

She said the problem had started when she went on a hiking trip with her boyfriend on the outskirts of their home in the city of Xiamen, in East China’s Fujian Province.

Li admitted she had delayed going to see medics because she feared the scratching sounds, which only she could hear, may be due to the fact she had been possessed by evil spirits.

“I even went to a temple to pray but it didn’t help,” she said.

Although she had not gone to see doctors immediately she had tried eating painkillers and migraine medicine, but her symptoms remained and got worse.

Ear, nose and throat specialist, Doctor Chen Zhaoyue, discovered that Li had in fact been playing host to a spider in her left ear which had been weaving a web..

He said every attempt to remove the spider from Li’s ear caused it to react violently and cause the patient more pain.

In the end, the doctor pacified the spider with a few drops of an unspecified medicine and pulled it out with a pair of tweezers.

Li, who is now recovering, said that she had climbed a tree during her hiking trip to pick some fruit.

Doctor Chen said this was the most probable explanation for the spider’s appearance in her ear.