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If left untreated, the maggot infestation could have caused her death. (Representative Image)
An X-ray revealed that the Thailand-based woman was suffering from a maggot infestation inside her nose, causing blockage, facial pain and a nosebleed.
People often ignore a blocked nose, thinking it is a cold or flu symptom. Usually, the irritation goes away on its own when the nasal passageway gets clear. Certain medications can also speed up the recovery process. But if you have been paying no heed to a stuffy nose bothering you for over a week, it is high time that you book a doctor’s appointment right away. It is because it could be maggots causing the blockage. In a disturbing incident, a woman from Thailand was horrified after she found out that the cause behind her week-long stuffy nose, facial pain and nosebleed was hundreds of maggots living inside her nostrils.
According to a report by The Mirror, the 59-year-old woman believed that her cold-like symptoms were a result of breathing difficulties due to excessive dust. But her opinion changed when during a nosebleed she found tiny maggots coming out from her nose. The woman went for a checkup at the Nakornping Hospital in Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand where after an X-ray, Dr Pateemon Thanachaikhan discovered “foreign bodies” in her nostrils. An endoscope revealed the woman suffering from a maggot-infested nose which was later medically removed.
Documenting the incident, the Nakornping Hospital shared a post on Facebook that informed that the woman was first being treated for sinusitis until the nosebleed changed everything. After the X-ray, the doctor “found that the left zygomatic sinus had a white blemish. Endoscopy found more than 100 worms in both nasal cavities, so the worms were removed with forceps.” The post concluded with the doctors claiming that the patient was out of danger and “safe”. Local reports cited that her condition was dramatically improved after the maggot-removal procedure.
If the woman left the symptoms untreated, the insects would have gradually damaged her organs like the eyes and brain, causing disability and even death, reported The Mirror. Natives living in the northern area of Thailand like Chiang Mai, as well as some residing in Caribbean islands such as Cuba or Jamaica, are more susceptible to these fly-related illnesses because they are more prone to allergies and rhinitis, leading to such insect infestations.