Every arachnophobic person's worst nightmare has become a reality for an unfortunate Chinese woman.

Yesterday a woman, called Ms. Lee by a local news outlet, checked into Changsha Central Hospital, located in China's southeastern Hunan province, complaining of itching in her left ear. It was discovered that the source of her complaint was a spider that had crawled into her ear canal five days prior.

Pictures taken of the inside of the ear canal revealed a stocky, furry, four-eyed spider, irritated at the photograph being taken.

Her physicians then were tasked with the problem of getting out the spider. They feared that extracting the spider with forceps or other similar devices would lead it to become aggravated and bite the woman, or burrow more deeply into the canal. Burrowing would be particularly problematic as, by digging its barbs further into the canal, it could scratch it, provoking pain, ear discharge, and more itchiness.

In the end, they chose to pour saline into the woman's ear canal, hoping that the spider would emerge on its own. The spider acquiesced, and was put into a small case. When Ms. Lee saw the spider's outstretched foot, she reportedly nearly started to cry.

Doctors believe that the spider crawled into her ear while she was sleeping during her home renovations.

The spider was reportedly a size of a coin. The outlet did not specify the size of the coin.

Her physicians have said that Ms. Lee was quite fortunate that the spider was not further along the ear canal. In addition, Lee's ear canal seems to have made it through the ordeal unscathed.

According to the local news outlet, Ms. Lee's home renovation has not yet been completed.

RELATED STORIES