Taiwanese woman has 4-inch centipede removed from her ear, it was still alive

In a shocking incident, a female patient in Taiwan was discovered that a centipede had been living inside her ear.

According to a story in MailOnline that cited local reports, the 52-year-old woman checked herself into hospital in Chiayi, south-west Taiwan a few days ago after feeling discomfort in her ear canal.

Doctors were horrified to discover the 10-centimetre (4-inch) creepy crawly and immediately removed the insect with a pair of tweezers.

The woman told doctors at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital she suspected there was something crawling inside her ear, according to United Daily News.

After checking her ear canal with an otoscope, Doctor Xu Zhengming, director of the hospital's Department of Otolaryngology confirmed that there was an unknown insect in her canal and immediately applied an anaesthetic spray to prevent the bug from biting and extracted it with a pair of tweezers - revealing the stomach-churning discovery.

Xu added that the woman's hearing and ear canal were not damaged thanks to her decision to get immediate medical attention.