Doctor pulls LIVE COCKROACH from man’s ear after patient battled in vain for six hours to remove it himself

THIS is the moment a doctor finds a live cockroach buried in a man's ear after he struggled for six hours to get the insect out on Friday.

The unnamed patient suffered the roach invasion while he slept when the bug, measuring just less than one inch, decided to seek shelter in the warmth of his right ear canal.

The 52-year-old from Shenzhen city in China's southern Guangdong province tried for six hours to remove the critter.

But he only succeeded in further winding it up, causing the creepy crawly to burrow deeper down his ear canal.

Pingshan Hospital ear, nose and throat specialist Shang Liping found the cockroach alive in the man's right ear.

Footage taken by one of her nurses showed it moving around inside his ear canal.

Liping said the roach had crawled so deep into his ear, that she to remove the bug "piece by piece".

She removed its hind legs and part of its abdomen before finally yanking out the rest of its body.

Doctor Shang also disinfected the man's ear canal just in case the uninvited guest managed to lay any eggs inside.

She said: "If a cockroach has found its way into your ear and you can't get it out, use oils to pacify or kill it and seek immediate medical attention."

She added: "Don't just go blindly digging around."

Doctor Shang suggested poor hygiene likely led to the man's aural invasion.

Although it sounds bizarre, cockroaches are known to crawl into people's ears in search of food.