MAN FORGOT EARPLUG IN EAR AND THOUGHT HE WAS DEAF FOR FIVE YEARS
Most people assume that as they age, the world simply gets a little quieter. We blame the loud concerts of our youth, the roar of heavy machinery, or perhaps the physical toll of contact sports. For Wallace Lee, a resident of Weymouth in Dorset, the gradual silencing of his surroundings felt like an inevitable slide into deafness. He spent years navigating a world that sounded muffled, convinced that his body was finally surrendering to time. He never suspected that the culprit was not biological decay, but a tiny piece of plastic hiding just millimeters from his brain.
The ordeal began during a trip to Australia in 2017. During a long-haul flight, Lee used a pair of specialized earplugs designed to filter out specific frequencies of aircraft engine noise. These devices often feature interchangeable attachments to customize the level of sound dampening. Somewhere between the takeoff and the landing, one of the small white silicone tips detached from the main unit. Unbeknownst to Lee, it remained deep inside his ear canal while he exited the plane and resumed his life in England.
For the next five years, Lee lived with a persistent, frustrating hearing impairment. As a veteran of the Royal Navy, he had plenty of reasons to justify the loss. He had spent his career in the high-decibel environment of the aviation industry. He also had a history of rugby injuries, which can often lead to ear and sinus complications. Even his wife began to notice the decline, urging him to seek help as he struggled to follow basic conversations. He tried to clear his ears multiple times using traditional methods, but the blockage remained stubbornly in place.
Frustrated by the lack of progress and feeling at his “wit’s end,” Lee took matters into his own hands in 2022. He purchased a home endoscope kit—a small camera designed to peer into tight spaces. When he fed the device into his ear, he spotted something that did not belong: a distinct, white foreign object. This discovery prompted an immediate visit to an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist, where the true extent of the problem became clear.
The removal process proved more difficult than a standard cleaning. Because the plastic bud had been lodged in the canal for half a decade, it was encased in a layer of calcified earwax. The surgeon, Neil De Zoysa, initially attempted to use a vacuum-like suction tool to extract the object. The hardened wax acted like cement, holding the earplug firmly in place. The doctor eventually had to switch to miniature tweezers, carefully maneuvering them through a narrow tube to grip the silicone tip.
Lee described the sensation of the extraction as a physical “pop.” The moment the object left his ear, the transformation was instantaneous. The sensory “fog” that had clouded his perception for years vanished. He reported being able to hear every ambient sound in the doctor’s office with perfect clarity. It was a sensory rebirth that left both the patient and the medical professional amazed at how long the object had stayed hidden without causing a severe infection.
Cases like this are more common than the public might realize, though five years is an exceptionally long duration for a foreign body to remain undetected. Foreign objects in the ear canal typically cause pain, discharge, or inflammation within weeks. The ear is a self-cleaning organ, using the migration of skin cells and wax to push debris outward. However, when an object is pushed past the first bend of the ear canal, it can become trapped. This often happens when people use cotton swabs or “Q-tips,” which frequently push wax and debris deeper rather than removing them.
Medical professionals generally advise against the “DIY” approach Lee took, despite his success. While home endoscopes have become popular tools for the curious, doctors warn that trying to remove an object yourself can result in a ruptured eardrum or permanent hearing damage. If an object is pushed against the tympanic membrane, it can cause excruciating pain and require surgical intervention. In Lee’s case, the professional extraction saved his hearing without causing lasting trauma to the delicate structures of the inner ear.
This story serves as a bizarre reminder of how easily we adapt to a “new normal,” even when that normal is a significant physical impairment. Wallace Lee spent years assuming his world had simply grown quieter. In reality, he just needed a pair of tweezers and a skilled surgeon to bring the volume back up. His experience highlights the importance of persistent medical investigation when something feels “off,” rather than accepting sensory loss as a mandatory part of aging.
