A Kansas woman says she鈥檒l be sleeping with ear plugs from now on after doctors pulled a venomous spider from inside her ear canal.
Susie Torres said she felt like there was water in one of her ears when she woke up last week.
鈥淚 woke up Tuesday morning hearing a bunch of swooshing and water in my left ear,鈥� she told local television station KSHB-TV on Friday.
When the water sounds persisted, Torres said she visited a local clinic in Kansas City to have her ear examined.
鈥淸The medical assistant] ran out and said 鈥業鈥檓 going to go get a couple more people,鈥欌�� Torres recalled. 鈥淪he said 鈥業 think you have an insect in there.鈥欌��
Despite the news, Torres said she tried to remain calm.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 panic because I didn鈥檛 know exactly what it was until she came back in and told me it was a spider,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey had a few tools and they worked their magic and got it out.鈥�
Once the spider was out of Torres鈥� ear, they were able to determine that it wasn鈥檛 just any arachnid, but a venomous brown recluse spider.
Torres, understandably, was filled with questions.
鈥淛ust why, where, what, and how,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 never thought that they would crawl in your ear or any part of your body.鈥�
Luckily, Torres wasn鈥檛 bitten by the spider residing in her ear and her doctors said told her she appeared to be OK.
, the brown recluse spider is most commonly found in the Midwestern and southern states. They鈥檙e identifiable by the 鈥渄ark violin-shaped marking鈥� on their heads and their six equal-sized eyes 鈥� most spiders have eight eyes.
The agency said this type of spider cannot bite humans unless there is some form of counter pressure, such as 鈥渦nintentional contact that traps the spider against the skin.鈥�
If a brown recluse spider does bite a human, the CDC said there could be a stinging sensation and localized pain and a small white blister at the site of contact. The arachnid鈥檚 venom can also cause a severe lesion by 鈥渄estroying skin tissue (skin necrosis),鈥� the health agency said. If a lesion develops, the CDC recommends treatment by a medical professional.
Now that the spider has been safely removed from Torres鈥� ear, she said she鈥檚 not taking any more chances.
鈥淚 went and put some cotton balls in my ears last night because I didn鈥檛 have any ear plugs,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 pretty terrified of the spiders.鈥�
