A man who was recovering from a minor ear infection that caused him itching in the middle of the night accidentally poured a strong glue substance into his ear after mistaking it for his usual ear drop.
The victim's heavily glued ear
An unfortunate man landed himself in a sticky situation when he mistook super glue for ear drops and had to endure a week of near-deafness.
Song Wan, 45, ran into a hospital's A&E department still in his pyjamas after he accidentally squirted an extra-strong adhesive, called 502 Glue, into his left ear.
He told the doctor how he was in the process of recovering from an ear infection and had wanted to use the drops to relieve an itch that was bothering him.
The man being treated by the doctor
He was drowsy after waking in the night and carelessly picked up the super glue before squeezing several drops of the powerful adhesive into his ear. Realising his error, he then rushed to the First People’s Hospital of Hangzhou, in China’s Zhejiang province, where he was seen by Doctor Li Yong.
The medic, an ear, nose, and throat specialist, told him to simply wait a week. Doctor Li explained that the mucous membrane in Song’s ear would secrete fluids to form a protective layer between the adhesive and his eardrum.
An x-ray of his ear
He said his eardrum would likely rupture if he peeled the glue off too soon. A week later, Song returned to the hospital and the substance was removed.
He told medics he had been a "nervous wreck" waiting to see whether he would regain the use of his ear, and praised the medical team for their advice.
The adhesive, 502 Glue