A woman, Li Meng, suddenly started hearing ‘scratching’ noises, and thought that she might be ill or has been ‘possessed by evil spirits’. But when she went to see a doctor, she came to know that a spider had been living there.

Chinese news outlet TaiHaiNet.com reported that the spider may have entered Li’s ear when the 25-year-old had gone for a hike along with her boyfriend. Li said that night when she returned home, she started hearing a strange scratching sound, accompanied by severe pain in her ear occasionally.

The woman said that at first she believed she may have been ‘cursed’ by evil spirits. As per Central European News, she had even gone to a temple in order to get rid of the spirits. She also took painkillers and anti-inflammatory medication to lessen the pain but none of the remedies worked.

Li finally went to Dr. Chen Zhao Ye, an ear, nose and throat specialist at the Xiamen Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine around7 days after the hike. Chen examined her ear and found that a spider was living inside Li’s troubled ear. TaiHaiNet.com reported that the arachnid had also weaved a web inside the ear cavity.

Chen reportedly faced a lot of difficulties in removing the spider. It was a painful ordeal as whenever the doctor attempted to do something, the spider reacted violently. Chen finally completed the task after controlling the spider by giving some anesthesia.

Such a case is not an uncommon occurrence as in 2014, writer Annie Stoltie wrote about the case when a beetle got stuck in her ear while she went for camping in the Adirondack Mountains with her family.

“I even went to a temple to pray”, Meng told TaiHaiNet.com. Afterwards, she chose to pick a fruit and according to reports, she may have trampled a grave while doing so.