Another day, another person found a random creepy crawly critter hiding somewhere within their body. This time, the host was British pop star Katie Melua. The songstress went to the docs last week complaining of a constant shuffling noise in her ear. Given her profession, she was especially worried. Had the musician done serious damage to her precious ear drums? Well, kinda. Upon further inspection, the doctor Melua had been housing a tiny spider in her ear for about a week, which is disturbing enough as it is. However, the way the spider landed in there is enough to make your skin crawl.
Read more ¿Qué más?: SEE: Woman finds leech in her nose!
Melua believes the critter may have crawled into her ear canal when she used an old pair of in-ear headphones during a recent flight. "Basically I used these old in-ear monitors to block out sound on a flight," she shared on Instagram last week, along with a photo of the offending headphones. "Little spider must have been in them and crawled inside my ear and stayed there for the week." How terrifying is that? According to the singer's doctor, he'd never in his career taken out a live bug before," says a rep for Melua, adding that the doc has, however, removed his fair share of dead bugs. Oh, joy.
Luckily, removing the pest easy-peasy, and Melua reportedly suffered no permanent damage to her hearing. Phew! However, the rest of us (i.e.: me) are permanently scarred, and increasingly becoming deathly afraid of something crawling into our nooks and crannies in our sleep. Right? Surely, I'm not the only one. I know you're scared too. If so, take a gander at the slideshow below to see how you can, at the very least, spot different insect bites, should a critter get close enough to take a chomp out of you.
Images via Getty, Katie Melua/Instagram
Mosquito bite
Mosquiteo bites are a very itchy and often look like round, red, or pink skin bumps. Though mostly harmless 1% of mosquitos carry the West Wile virus. Symptoms of the virus include, headaches and body aches, fever, and/ or swollen glands and a skin rash, and commonly appear between 5-15 days after the bite.
Bed bugs
Bed bug bites don’t hurt, for the most part, however many people develop an allergic reaction to the bugs’ saliva. Ew! Symptoms include an itchy, raised and red skin bump or welt. The bump and itchiness typically lasts for a few days.
Spider bite
You can exhale, chicas. Most spider bites aren’t poisonous. However, they are pretty gnarly looking. Symptoms include swelling, red skin, and pain at the bite site. There are people out there, however, who develop allergic reactions to spider bites, with symptoms such as tightness in the chest, breathing problems and difficulty swallowing. If you experience any of these symptoms, go see your doctor IMMEDIATELY!
Flea bites
Flea bites tend to be in groups of three or four and are more common on ankles, armpits, around the waist, and the crocks of your knees and elbows. Symptoms of flea bites include a small, red skin rash that may actually bleed. Itching is may also be quite severe.
Tick bites
Not all tick bites are the same. Black-legged ticks aka deer ticks may carry Lyme disease, which may cause a skin rash in the pattern of rings, and can appear up to a month after the bite occurred. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, headaches, and muscle and joint aches. Meanwhile, dog ticks may carry Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Symptoms of these bites include fever, fatigue, headaches, and a skin rash that begins on the ankles and wrists, and spreads to the rest of the body within a few days.
Bee sting
Initially, a bee sting can feel a lot like a shot from your doctor. However, the sharp pain will soon fade to a dull, aching feeling. As for how it looks: expect to see a red skin bump with white around it at the site of the sting. Some people are deathly allergic to bee stings, and may experience extreme swelling at the sting site or throughout the entire area of the body. These people should seek medical help ASAP.
Fire ant bites
Fire ant bites can be quite painful. The affected area generally swells into a red skin bump that may produce sharp pain or burning sensation and result in a white, fluid-filled blister a day or so after the bite occurs. The pain and bump may last anywhere between three to eight days. You may also experience itchiness and swelling at the bite site.
