{"id":122372,"date":"2025-04-15T14:23:51","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T07:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/?p=122372"},"modified":"2025-04-15T14:23:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T07:23:51","slug":"a-maggot-was-living-in-my-skin-and-i-didnt-even-know-it-myiasis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/a-maggot-was-living-in-my-skin-and-i-didnt-even-know-it-myiasis\/","title":{"rendered":"A Maggot Was Living in My Skin \u2014 And I Didn\u2019t Even Know It\u2026.Myiasis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sounds like a horror movie, right? But Myiasis\u2014aka infestation of the human body by fly larvae\u2014is a real medical condition, and trust us, it\u2019s every bit as disturbing as it sounds. These aren’t your average houseflies. These are meat-eating maggots that burrow into your skin, eyes, ears\u2026 and in severe cases, even into your brain \ud83d\ude31\n

So how do they get in? Why do they choose you? And what can you do to stop this absolute nightmare from happening? Let’s break it down.\n

What Is Myiasis and How Do Maggots End Up Living Inside Humans?\n
Myiasis happens when certain types of fly larvae (Dermatobia hominis, Chrysomya bezziana, and others) invade and grow inside human or animal tissue. While most flies are content with trash and leftovers, these guys lay their eggs on open wounds, spoiled food, or even directly onto your clothes or skin. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae burrow in\u2014and boom, you\u2019re officially hosting a parasitic infestation.\n
These maggots don\u2019t just live in the body\u2014they feed on live tissue, sucking nutrients and destroying flesh as they grow. Think swelling, pain, oozing wounds, and even permanent damage if not treated early.\n
How Do People Get Infected?\n
You don\u2019t need to be living in extreme conditions to get myiasis. Here\u2019s how it can sneak up on anyone:\n
\n
Eating food contaminated with fly eggs or larvae\u00a0\n
Having an open wound exposed to flies \n
Traveling to tropical or subtropical regions without proper protection \n
Wearing clothes or sleeping under bedding where flies laid eggs \n
Basically, if you\u2019re in a fly-heavy environment and not careful about hygiene, you could become an unintentional maggot hotel.\n\n
$\"\"$ \n
Signs You Might Have Flesh-Eating Maggots in Your Body\n
Yeah, we know. This part gets graphic\u2014but it’s important to know what to look for. Symptoms depend on where the larvae are living in your body, but common signs include:\n
\n
Boil-like lesions that won\u2019t heal, often with a small hole in the center\n
Feeling something move under your skin (yep, the maggot\u2019s breathing through the wound)\n
Severe pain, inflammation, or tissue damage\n
Foul-smelling pus or discharge from infected wounds\n
If the maggots are in your ear: buzzing, pain, or hearing loss\n
In the eye: redness, pain, vision problems\n
In the stomach: vomiting, diarrhea, or spotting maggots in your stool\n
Genital area: itching, swelling, discharge, or visible larvae\n\n
In extreme cases, the larvae can invade deep tissues, destroy muscles and bones, or even reach the brain\u2014leading to sepsis or death if not treated promptly.\n
How Is Myiasis Diagnosed?\n
Sometimes it\u2019s as simple (and horrifying) as spotting a squirming larva inside a wound. But if the infestation is deeper or not visible, doctors may need to run additional tests:\n
\n
Blood tests to check for infection\n
Imaging like ultrasound, CT, or MRI scans if internal organs are affected\n
Microscopic analysis or DNA tests to identify the type of fly involved\n
A “breathing hole” (a visible puncture in the skin) is often a key clue\u2014it allows the larva to breathe while staying safely inside your body\n\n
$\"\"$ \n
Treatment: How Do You Get Maggots Out of the Body?\n
Here\u2019s where the real (but oddly satisfying) part comes in: getting the maggots out. Treatments may include:\n
\n
Suffocating the larvae using petroleum jelly, oil, or occlusive dressings to block their air supply\n
Manually removing them with sterile tweezers or surgical instruments\n
Cleaning and dressing the wound thoroughly afterward\n
Antibiotics if there\u2019s a secondary infection\n
Ivermectin \u2013 an anti-parasitic medication that may help kill larvae, though it’s not yet a universal cure\n\n
In severe cases involving internal organs or deep tissue, surgical removal is necessary\n
And let\u2019s be clear: you absolutely should not try to remove maggots on your own. Doing it wrong can leave parts of the larva behind, making things worse.\n
How to Prevent Myiasis \u2013 Because No One Wants Maggots in Their Body\n
The good news? Myiasis is totally preventable. Just follow these simple (but crucial) habits:\n
\n
Keep your personal hygiene on point\n
Cover any open wounds properly\n
Cook food thoroughly and avoid leftovers exposed to flies\n
Don\u2019t leave trash or food scraps lying around\n
If you’re in tropical areas, sleep under mosquito nets and avoid letting flies into your living space\n
Never wear clothes left outside overnight\u2014flies may lay eggs on them!\n
Travelers, hikers, farmers, and anyone living in rural or tropical environments should take extra precautions.\n\n
So yeah… Myiasis isn\u2019t just gross\u2014it\u2019s dangerous.\n
Would you rather be eaten alive by flesh-eating bugs, or just wear bug spray and cover your wounds?\n
Easy choice, right?\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sounds like a horror movie, right? But Myiasis\u2014aka infestation of the human body by fly larvae\u2014is a real medical condition, and trust us, it\u2019s every bit as disturbing as it sounds. These aren’t your average houseflies. These are meat-eating maggots that burrow into your skin, eyes, ears\u2026 and in severe cases, even into your brain\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":122379,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[404],"tags":[746],"class_list":{"0":"post-122372","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-and-fitness","8":"tag-hometips-lifehacks-health"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20221230_Myiasis-da-3.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122372"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122382,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122372\/revisions\/122382"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}