A man identified as Zane Wedding who was battling with a blocked ear and believed to be due to water got the shock of his life after finding out it was a cockroach hiding inside it.

The man from Auckland, New Zealand, woke up with a strange sensation after he went swimming the day before.

He decided to go to the hospital as he could feel movement in his ear, even when sitting still.

Zane was originally prescribed antibiotics and was instructed to blow a hairdryer near his ear in an attempt to dry out the area.

However, the sensation would not go away after two nights of little sleep so he decided to see a specialist at an ear clinic.

The doctor at the clinic was left shocked, letting out an “oh my god” which caused the patient to jump.

According to the New Zealand Herald, Zane was told: “I think you have an insect in your ear”.

For the next few minutes, the doctor tried to extract the bug but could only manage to pull the first half of a full-sized cockroach out.

To dislodge the rest of the insect’s body, a suction machine was used to successfully clear his ear.

Before discovering the insect in his ear, the doctor first believed Zane may have had a tumour.

He said the whole incident made him “physically sick”.

The shocked man told the New Zealand Herald: “I felt [my eardrum] pop as it came away. The lady who extracted it said: ‘I’ve never seen this before. I’ve read about it, but never seen it’.

“She kept saying: ‘Oh my God’. When she first said it I thought I had a tumour.”

Zane believes if he had not gone to get a second opinion, he could have been left with the cockroach still roaming in his ear.

He was also concerned after learning what was in his ear that the first doctor’s advice could have seen him essentially boiling up the cockroach.

He said “I was basically doing a boil-up of that cockroach. On Sunday, I’d be sitting still and feel something moving around. I was deaf in that ear for those three days.“