Larvae take up residence on man's head

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

CARBONDALE, Colo. - Doctors thought the strange, bleeding bumps on Aaron Dallas' head might be from gnat bites or shingles. Then the bumps started moving.

A doctor found five active bot fly larvae living beneath the skin atop Dallas' head.

"I'd put my hand back there and feel them moving. I thought it was blood coursing through my head," Dallas told the (Glenwood Springs) Post Independent.

"I could hear them. I actually thought I was going crazy."

Dallas said he likely received the larval infestation while on a trip to Belize this summer. Bot fly infections are not uncommon in parts of Central and South America.

Adult bot flies are hairy and look like bees, without bristles. The larvae, which are about one-third the size of a penny, were living in a pit 2- to 3- millimeters wide. They were removed Thursday.

"It was weird and traumatic," said Dallas, of Carbondale. "I would get this pain that would drop me to my knees."

After a specialist told him he might have shingles, Dallas tried different creams and salves. But the pain only got worse.

"When I saw him again, it was pretty obvious something else was going on," said Dr. Kimball Spence, who could see the spots moving on Dallas' head. "There's an open pit. You see a little activity, not necessarily the larvae, but a fluctuation of the fluid in the pit."

Dallas' wife, Midge Dallas, teased him about it.

"I told him, 'I will love you through your maggots,'" she told the newspaper.

But Dallas saw little to laugh about.

"It's much funnier to everyone else," he said. "It makes my stomach turn over. It was cruel."

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[Yaads 0]

How come there isn't a vomiting smilie?

That is so nasty

[wioombeen 0]

That just makes me shiver.

[Clarky and Tarah 0]

That is the grossest thing I've ever read. I saw an ER show where this woman had worms living in her scalp. They thought she was crazy because she said she had bugs under her skin, but when the Dr. squeezed the skin up there little bits of fluid would squirt out and then eventually a really nasty worm poked it's head out. I thought I was going to die watching that. Poor woman. Talking about it is making my scalp itch. Ahh.

[JenT 0]

http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/town/botfly.html

I've only heard of bot flies with respect to horses.... I have a bot fly knife that I used to scrape my horses legs when bot flies lay eggs on them. The horses rub their legs with their faces, ingest the flies and the larvae grow in their stomachs which is serious... de-worming paste can help kill the larvae if it's ingested.

I've never heard this pertain to humans. Guess Belize is one more travel destination I can cross off my list of places to visit

Thanks for sharing, as always, Charles.

Jen

[L_n_O 3]

oh god

I got goosebumps - in a bad way , reading this story

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

oh god

I got goosebumps - in a bad way , reading this story

ya sure it's goosebumps?

[Yaads 0]

oh god

I got goosebumps - in a bad way , reading this story

ya sure it's goosebumps?

:lol:

That was cruel

[Emancipation 2]

I don't think i'm going to be able to sleep tonite

[JoeMama 0]

Damn! I knew I should've gone to the doctor when I felt those bumps!

[MaRob 0]

I have only ever heard about the woman who licked an envelope, papercut her tongue, and 2 weeks later had a huge bump on her tongue. When she went to the doctor, they lanced it and roaches were in there.. BLECH!!!

[almaty 19]

wow, that was just wrong..

[wioombeen 0]

again....SHIVER!!!!

[broma25 2]

That is the grossest thing I've ever read. I saw an ER show where this woman had worms living in her scalp. They thought she was crazy because she said she had bugs under her skin, but when the Dr. squeezed the skin up there little bits of fluid would squirt out and then eventually a really nasty worm poked it's head out. I thought I was going to die watching that. Poor woman. Talking about it is making my scalp itch. Ahh.

I saw that too....it was gross!!!

[mawilson 2,133]

Ewww!

JoeMama - who's the maggotface?