An Australian man had a spider removed from his stomach after it burrowed its way into his body and survived for three days before being removed.

Dylan Maxwell was on holidays on the Indonesian island of Bali when the tiny creature burrowed through a small appendix scar and travelled up his torso, leaving a red scar-like trail from his navel to his chest.

Lifting his shirt, Maxwell told an Australian television network "that's where it actually burrowed underneath my skin".

While still in Bali, Maxwell visited a local medical center and was prescribed an antihistamine for an insect bite.

"Well after running tests and putting things inside my stomach they finally found out it was a tropical spider that's been living inside me for the last three days," Maxwell posted on his Facebook page where he goes by the name of Dylan Thomas.

"Haven't felt so violated in my life before! Just glad it's all over", he said.

After returning to Australia earlier this week, doctors removed the tropical visitor.

"They managed to pull the spider out of my navel and put it in a specimen jar and took it away," said Maxwell, whose mates have nicknamed him "Spiderman".