“This tadpole-looking thing fell off my face while washing it”, says this reader about the oddly-shaped, black object in the photo below. “I think there were more but I only salvaged one to take a photo of. What is it?”
All About Worms is always free, always reader-supported, we don't subject you to annoying video or ad pop-ups. But it does cost us money out of our pocket to keep the site going (nearly 20 years so far!) So your tips via CashApp, Venmo, or Paypal are appreciated! Receipts will come from ISIPP Publishing.
To start with, the resolution of the photo is unfortunately quite low, and as such, the finer details of the organism that would be made apparent by a sharper photo are lost. We would not really understand what it is we are looking at if our reader had not described it as a “tadpole-looking thing.” Now, we are not given more context than that which is quoted above, so we do not know the size of the creature, or the way in which it moves and behaves. If it was the size of a tadpole, then one would think that our reader would have noticed the creature on his face before he washed it. That said, if the creature came from inside him, then it makes sense that it was not discovered until it “fell off” his face. Our reader does not make clear if he thinks this is the case, so we are not going to suggest that this is what happened, but it is a possibility that is worth considering.
In any case, we think our reader ought to consult a medical professional if he is concerned that the discovery of the tadpole(s) has/will negatively affect his health. Likewise, if he thinks the organism came out of him, we will specifically recommend that he sees a parasitologist, as these physicians specialize in infections caused by organisms that live inside others. What we can recommend is that our reader do one or more of the following: 1) Search for a medical parasitologist in his area using this directory of medical parasitology consultants: https://www.astmh.org/for-astmh-members/clinical-consultants-directory. 2) Search for a local parasitologist by doing a Google search for “medical parasitologist (name of the closest big city)” or “tropical medicine specialist (name of the closest big city)”. 3) Get in touch with Dr. Omar Amin at the Parasitology Center at https://www.parasitetesting.com. To conclude, we do not know what the organism our reader found is. Not only is the photo of a poor resolution, making it nearly impossible to make out the true appearance of the creature, but the situation is potentially medical in nature. As we are not medical professionals, we are not qualified to make identifications of organisms that are potentially affecting the health of our readers. As such, we recommend that our reader consult a medical professional if he is worried about this possibility. We hope this article helps, and we wish him the very best!
All About Worms is always free, always reader-supported, we don't subject you to ads or annoying video pop-ups. But it does cost us money out of our pocket to keep the site going (nearly 20 years so far!) So your tips via CashApp, Venmo, or Paypal are appreciated! Receipts will come from ISIPP Publishing.