Roaches

[Dustbug10]

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I thought this blog from Skyler at AT Still was worth posting:

http://community.advanceweb.com/blogs/aa_2/archive/2011/02/23/full-moon-madness.aspx

I always joke about it being a full moon when we have a weird day or a weird week. On this day, it just started off odd. The no-shows were ridiculous! And granted, every clinic has its share of no-shows, but on this particular day it was phenomenally high. I mean, I actually had time to go the restroom and finish my mug of chai before noon. It was amazing and disturbing at the same time.

The highlight of my day was meeting a young 11-year-old girl who was coming in because she needed a hearing test for school... or so I was told by her mother. I asked the typical questions about her hearing, and nothing remarkable was said. I then asked the young lady herself about how her ears were feeling. She told me they were itchy and hurting, which is not unusual.

So I took out my otoscope and started to do my usual viewing, when I noticed something very odd about this girl's cerumen. It didn't have its usual shapelessness and lumpiness. It looked smooth and even seemed to have a pattern to it. I knew, right at that moment, it was definitely NOT cerumen. I then looked into the opposite ear and saw the exact same thing!

I was pretty positive at this point that I knew what it was, but I needed a witness. I discreetly grabbed one of my preceptors so she could take a peek, and the initial look on her face confirmed what I already suspected. This girl had not only a roach in her ear, but a roach in each ear! I've always heard the stories, but to see it for myself was something totally different. I guess I officially have had my AuD rite of passage.

The otolaryngologist immediately removed the roaches, and he informed me that one was relatively small, while the other was extremely large. I can't help but to feel for that kid, because who knows how long they had been in her ears.

This experience has definitely taught me to be careful what I joke about, because it was indeed a full moon last week.

A classmate of mine had a similar occurence with the roaches. I haven't seen anything too far out of the ordinary. I have seen the 'cherry red' TM in an otosclerosis pt., as well as a surgically altered canal. What have you guys seen in clinic?

 

[SoCalAud]

😱 Poor little girl.

 

[BigAl]

wow that is nuts, i could see it now
Otoscopy:
right - non-occluding roaches
left - non-occluding roaches


only thing ive see were dislocated ossicles and a perf

 

[AUDball2012]

I have seen

-quite a number of mastoid surgeries
-Tympanosclerosis
-Cerumen that was literally overflowing out of the ladies ear
-Blue, red, and green wax--the patient decided he would try candling with regular table candles
-An inflamed ear canal to the point where it was so red and swollen the small opening would only allow for the white ooey-gooey puss to come out (this patient was told that for an ear ache to put garlic in his ear--so he did...a CLOVE!!😱, then when it wouldnt stay in his canal he put gauze over it and taped it there...for 3 days!!!😱, then when it started to hurt he pulled it out and came in to see us)

Oh and although not an ear canal issue--I once had a patient come in for a VNG and we told her to consult her doctor before going off any medications but did she? nope! and she came in without being on her antianxiety and antipsychotics and such and she looked worried and stressed but once I started calorics she started have a seizure! We had to call 911 and she was take to a hospital--fun fun 😱

 

[Dustbug10]

I have seen
-Blue, red, and green wax--the patient decided he would try candling with regular table candles

I spit my smoothie onto the screen after reading this. Thanks a lot.

 

[AUDball2012]

I spit my smoothie onto the screen after reading this. Thanks a lot.

baaaahahahahahaha yeah I about choked when he told me why there were rainbow colors in his ears