A woman from Missouri believed she had water in her ear as a side effect of an allergy shot but it was actually a venomous brown recluse spider.
Hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, Susie Torres saw a doctor on Tuesday after waking up with pain in her left ear.
“I woke up Tuesday hearing a bunch of swooshing and water in my left ear,” Torres shared with WDAF-TV. “It was like when you went swimming and you have all of that water in your ear.”
But when the medical assistant giving her an initial checkup ran to get more people, she knew something was wrong.
“She came back in and told me it was a spider,” Torres shared. “They had a few tools and worked their magic and got it out.”
Doctors informed her it was a dime-sized, venomous, brown recluse spider that had been living in her ear.
Thankfully, Torres was informed the spider had not bitten her and zero eggs had been laid.
Torres is not sure where the spider came from but is currently taking precautions.
“I went and put some cotton balls in my ear last night, because I did not have any ear plugs,” Torres revealed. “I’m pretty terrified of spiders.”
Bites from brown recluse spiders usually are not felt when they happen, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Bites can also cause nausea, fevers, chills as well as swelling and discoloring in the infected area.
The spiders usually live in secluded, dry, sheltered areas and if they make it inside, they can be found in closets, shoes or attics.