Foreign Body, Ear

Presentation

Children may present after placing small objects such as a bead, a small stone, folded paper, or a bean in their ear. At times, the history is not revealed, and the child simply presents with a purulent discharge, pain, bleeding, or hearing loss. Adults also occasionally present with foreign bodies (FBs) in the auditory canal, often the result of trying to remove earwax. A panic-stricken patient may arrive complaining of “a bug crawling around” in the ear. There may be severe pain if the object or insect has scratched or stung the canal or tympanic membrane (TM).