19 Comments
User's avatar
Jordan Hanssen's avatar

Oh my god! That’s wild! Some wrath of khan there!

Steve Stewart's avatar

OMG...haha...scary. What a terrible thing to go through. Kudos to them for not rushing to the emergency room. What a brave wife! As an aside, when we visited Vietnam years ago, I had a horrible tooth ache. Didn't go to the dentist there though because the spinal surgeon who was in our travel group told me he'd heard that a guy had an extraction there and ended up with a paralized face. He took me to a pharmacy instead. No prescription necessary for anything you might need or want. (could be different now) Obtained a mild painkiller and made it to my dentist back home. The "paralyzed face" story was probably bogus in any case. Although, I did see "dentists" working on people...right on the sidewalks of Hanoi. We loved our visit...one of the best traveling experiences I've ever had...aside from the toothache.

Yesterday Jane's avatar

My grandfather was a dentist, and he gave me the same caution when I was an intern in the UK for a summer. He said that rather than deal with decay, they too often extracted the offending tooth -- or teeth. I worked with someone my age (20s) and her dentures clacked when she talked. ...

Steve Stewart's avatar

My father was a dentist. When I was a kid I remember him doing one of my fillings without anesthetic. I think he was worried about allegic reactions...LOL. Your friend with the clacking dentures probably would be appreciated by those African tribes who click when they talk. :)

Janice Fostakowsky's avatar

Yikes! (A medical term)

Haley Edwards's avatar

Ew.

Piper McNulty's avatar

oh just thinking about this gives me the heebie-jeebies!!

Years ago, something flew into my ear when I was out walking in the hills with a friend. I could hear it and feel it sort of rustling around. It was annoying and a bit unnerving but not at all painful .

When I got home, my husband shone a flashlight in my ear to see what was in there, and whatever it was it started banging against my eardrum! My husband completely freaked out and became rather incoherent. I couldn't figure out why. My daughter, who is about 14 at the time, tried dropping a little bit of oil in my ear to hopefully drown whatever it was, but that that just made it bang harder. My husband was still freaking out and didn't seem to be much use, so I drove myself to urgent care.

A nurse flushed whatever it was out of my ear and told me it was a bug .

When I got home my husband and daughter were both looking at me expectantly. I assured them that the bug had been flushed out and they looked relieved, but also a bit sheepish. I couldn't figure out why, till one of them admitted that when my husband had looked in my ear two buggy eyes had looked back out at him. But it was clearly not just any old bug because it had a head but no thorax or abdomen and too many legs legs. Yep, somehow a spider had gotten into my ear and then couldn't find his way back out!

Most bugs and wild critters don't bother me. I used to play with roly-polies and kept bluebells lizards as pets. But I really really REALLY do not like spiders. Turns out that's why my husband was so concerned, and didn't tell me what he had seen when he looked in my ear. I guess the nurse at urgent care must've intuited my dislike of spiders because she didn't tell me either!

Yesterday Jane's avatar

Your arachnophobia would probably have caused you to faint! In the sixties when those ratty bouffant hairdos were the style, I read stories of spiders making easy nests up there!

Piper McNulty's avatar

I remember those stories. Shudder.

We are so lucky that by the time we were old enough to start getting all gussied up those teased poofy styles were totally passé!

When I was maybe 12, my parents arranged for me to spend part of a day at Carmel High School. I don't remember why. But I do remember going into the girls bathroom and seeing several of the teenagers teasing and teasing their hair till the ends were splitting, and then piling their hair super high and spraying it to death with hairspray. I remember running out of the bathroom coughing!! Still a vivid memory.

Tom Stohlgren's avatar

I stand corrected. It was a “Night Gallery” episode from 1972. “Among those gems is “The Caterpillar” from the end of season two in 1972 starring Laurence Harvey. In the episode, written by Serling and which some hail as one of the finest examples of horror writing in television history.” So was 20 and still scared to death.

Tom Stohlgren's avatar

That’s TOO DAMN close to a Twilight Zone episode from 1964 or so where an earwig in a man’s ear traveled from one ear to the other, causing excruciating pain. The doctor plucks it out and reports, “It was a female!” Leaving this 12-year-old to wonder if it laid eggs — or maybe that’s what Rod Serling said — I was too scared to listen.

Yesterday Jane's avatar

I love that you were worried about the female laying eggs in his head!

Sandra Sweetland's avatar

That sounds like a sci-fi movie scene! Glad they had their handy-dandy tweezers!

xoxo

Yesterday Jane's avatar

Read Tom’s reply! He even has the sci-fi that’s such a scene was in!

Yesterday Jane's avatar

You would be so proud! No panic, just action--vodka, tweezers and an audience of two fascinated children!

Amrita Skye Blaine's avatar

Hilarious! My sister got a bug in her ear when she was a child. She said it was hideously noisy.

Ruth Stark's avatar

That really is the stuff of nightmares

Jo Spence's avatar

I agree with Haley--just EW!