It is very common in younger children especially under age five.

The commonest things found in ear are:

• Grains and seeds.
• Beads.
• Cotton wool.
• Paper.
• Eraser.
• Insects and bugs.

Symptoms:

• Ear pain.
• Ear discharge.
• Bleeding from ears.
• Hearing loss.

What to do:

• Do not get panic.
• Avoid removing the objects on your own.
• Do not put any things like oil into ear for natural removal.
• Consult ENT specialist immediately.
• Do not use tweezers, cotton swabs or other small tools to try to remove the object.

Treatment:

• Removal under direct vision using instrument.
• Syringing.
• Deeply impacted foreign body are removed under general anesthesia.

Complications:

• Bruises, lacerations and bleeding from ear canal.
• Otitis externa.
• Perforation of ear drum.
• Insect in ear:
• Avoid putting fingers in the ear.
• Turn the child’s head to the affected side up and wait to see if the insect flies or crawls out.
• Pour mineral oil, olive oil or baby oil in to ear. Pull the earlobe gently backward and downward while pouring the oil. Doing this make the insect suffocated and may float in oil. Avoid using oil to remove the object other than the insect since oil can cause swelling of other objects.