Photo: AP

On Tuesday, a 42-year-old Indian woman went to the hospital, complaining of an extremely painful “tingling, crawling sensation.” After being transferred three times, doctors determined that there was a “foreign body that seemed to be mobile” in her head.


Yes, your worst nightmare is a reality. “It was a full grown cockroach,” Dr. M.N. Shankar, the head of the ENT department at Stanley Medical College, told the The New Indian Express.

Don’t worry, when doctors removed Earth’s most vile creature from the woman’s “skull base, between the two eyes, close to the brain,” they got it on tape:

The living, full-grown roach—which apparently crawled up the woman’s nose—was stuck inside her head for twelve hours. “Whenever it moved, it gave me a burning sensation in my eyes,” she told the Express.


Of the roach in question, Dr. Shankar said, “It was alive. And it didn’t seem to want to come out.” It took 45 minutes and “a combination of suction and forceps” to finally remove the living nightmare from her skull.

Dr. S. Muthuchitra, who was part of the “rescue team” that removed the bug, told the Times of India that while he’s seen a lot of bizarre things go up nasal cavities, he’s never seen anything like this. “Not a cockroach,” said Muthuchitra, “especially not one this large.”

But don’t worry—while a giant cockroach up climbing into your body through your nose might be a rarity, they seem to crawl into ears frequently enough. So what if it happens to you? You’ll likely experience ear pain and hearing loss. The Mayo Clinic warns that you shouldn’t try to get it out by probing it with a Q-tip, which puts you at risk of damaging your middle ear and pushing the bug in further.

The University of Rochester Medical Center recommends you try tilting your head, and flushing your ears with water or oil. If that doesn’t work, go to the doctor. Good night, and good luck.


[Times of India/Indian Express via CNET]