A Taipei doctor has advised those with an ear obstruction to see a doctor rather than attempt to clear it on their own after a woman was found to have an insect in her ear.
A woman in her 50s sought treatment after experiencing tinnitus and intermittent itchiness in her left ear, otolaryngologist Hsu Hsin-chien (徐欣健) said.
Examining her ear canal, Hsu said that he found an insect, which he was able to draw out by attracting it with the light of his endoscope.
“Young children typically experience obstructions in the ear canal, and it usually is round objects or toy pieces that get lodged in there,” he said.
“When adults have obstructions, it is usually the tip of a cotton swab that fell off while they were cleaning their ears,” Hsu added.
The insects that can find their way into the ear canal include mosquitoes, cockroaches, moths, ants and other small insects, he said.
Most small obstructions, as long as they do not contain an irritant, do not damage a person’s health, but larger obstructions can put pressure on the ear canal and cause inflammation, Hsu said.
If an ear canal is inflamed, people might also experience tinnitus, ear pain and reflexive coughing, he said, adding that in some cases, the eardrum and middle ear might be damaged.
In some cases, the obstruction falls out when the head is tilted, Hsu said.
“If it’s an insect, it is sometimes possible to draw them out by moving to a dark room and shining a light on the ear,” he said.
“However, a person with strong discomfort in the ear is advised not to try to remove the obstruction at home,” Hsu said, adding that people with discomfort should promptly seek medical treatment.
Doctors are generally able to clear obstructions with tools at their clinic, Hsu said.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS