Pennsylvania man splits the G on a Guinness. Then a bug crawls into his ear—he uses a Reddit hack to save himself when his doctor fails

Ideally, a night out is supposed to end happily tucked in bed, not en route to the emergency room. But one Pennsylvania man's laid-back Saturday night took a turn that no amount of planning could have prepared him for.

‘I hear and feel a beetle crawling around inside of my ear'

Pennsylvania content creator Nolan (@nolanishere) shared an emergency room experience he had after an insect flew into his ear at a bar. His video has since accumulated more than 19,000 views.

Nolan said he was with an old college friend, drinking a Guinness, when a beetle flew across his face. He instinctively brushed at it. Unfortunately, instead of flying off, it went straight into his ear canal.

“I hear and feel a beetle crawling around inside of my ear,” Nolan said. “Immediately, we [headed] to the emergency room. A friend of mine had not been drinking that night, so they were able to take me.”

Nolan said the front desk staff and the nurse who took his vitals were “wonderful.” But the trouble started when the attending physician, whom Nolan called “Doctor Numbnuts,” came in with a trainee shadowing him.

“He goes, ‘What's going on?'” Nolan said. “And I say, ‘Well, if you haven't heard, there is a bug in my ear' … Mind you, I am in so much pain that every once in a while, I am grabbing my face because it feels like my ear canal is imploding on itself.”

He said the doctor only took a brief look before rubbing something off on his own chest. The doctor looked again, and then told Nolan he wasn't sure what he was seeing.

“Give me a little while, I'll be back,” Nolan recalled the doctor saying before walking away.

“There is a bug, a sentient creature living in my ear … Every five minutes, I need to grab my face because the pain is so intense, but you want me to give you a little while,” Nolan added.

Nolan said the pain kept intensifying as the insect moved deeper into his ear canal. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. Taking matters into his own hands, Nolan sought out a solution online.

“Thank God for Reddit, because the top comment [on one post] says most bugs are just afraid, and what they want is to follow the light,” Nolan said. “So I tilt my head over, I put my phone flashlight to my ear, and I just start nice and naturally shaking my head up and down. After about three to five minutes of this, I feel it start to crawl out.”

Nolan's friend confirmed he could see the beetle emerging. Nolan pulled the phone away and flicked the beetle out with his finger.

“There it is,” he said. “A beetle on the ground.”

“Hey, Doctor Numbnuts,” Nolan said, referring to the doctor. “I just did your job for you.”

@nolanishere Not the ideal Saturday night #hospital #comedy ♬ Beethoven's “Moonlight”(871109) – 平松誠

Does the flashlight trick for a bug in the ear actually work?

While luring a beetle out with a phone flashlight may seem like an internet myth, it's not. The trick Nolan used is a real, medically recognized “hack.” 

According to health information site Healthline, there are plenty of options available for those sharing Nolan's plight. Shaking one's head while pulling an ear back is a staple. But there's one thing Healthline does not recommend.

“Don't use a cotton swab or other probing object,” Healthline writes. “It can push the insect farther into the ear and potentially damage the middle ear or eardrum … If the insect is still alive, you can pour vegetable oil or baby oil into the ear canal. This will usually kill the bug. If you suspect the bug is dead, you may be able to flush it out of the ear using warm water and a syringe.”

Amplifon, a hearing care provider, advises patients to “use light to lure it out (for flying bugs).” If a person sits in a dark room and shines a flashlight at their ear, Amplifon says “the insect may be drawn to the light and crawl or fly out.”

This is because many insects are, according to the Farmers' Almanac, “phototactic.” Phototaxis is a behavior in which animals move “toward or away from light by reflex.”

“Moths, junebugs, lacewings, mayflies, and most night-flying beetles are positively phototactic,” the Farmers' Almanac states. “They steer toward the brightest source in their field of view. Cockroaches, earwigs, and silverfish are negatively phototactic. They scuttle for the dark the second you flip a kitchen switch.”

Buzz News has reached out to Nolan via TikTok comment.