“I have had these stringy worms for over a year” says this reader, who reached out to us after visiting three doctors about the “half moon looking worms” which have been plaguing her. She asks for our help in getting rid of them, assuring us that the worms “are not imaginary.”

First of all, we must warn our readers that the photographs in this article are somewhat graphic, including photos of parts of our reader’s body (feet, legs and ears) potentially infected by parasitic worms. We will also include descriptions from our reader of what these worms are and how they have affected her physiologically. So, if any of our readers are sensitive to this kind of information, we urge them to click away from this article.

Secondly, we must make clear that this article will not attempt to identify the worms that our reader is dealing with. This is because we are not medical professionals, and are thus not qualified to do so. What we can do is set our reader on the right track for getting the help she needs and deserves. More on this will come later in the article. For the rest of our readers, we hope that this article can still be of use as we will outline the context that our reader has provided us, which might hopefully pave the way for someone else experiencing something similar to also go and get help.

Our reader describes the worms that she says are infecting her as “stringy” and half moon-shaped. She has been to three different doctors, all of which have told her that this was all her imagination, and that the worms were simply “dry”, “flaky skin.” Our reader states she “knew better” because when her lips chapped, “they [the worms] were coming through the cracks in [her] lips.” The worms also tended to “wrap around” her toes and fingers, as well as move up and down her legs “on different levels.” She has also experienced round bumps on her ears (and other places) that are, according to our reader, “layers and layers of worms.” Although she states that the worms are not visible, she then later says that “the ones on the surface look white and flaky”, or “sometimes a light tan color”, or even like “tiny brown dots shaped like snowflakes.” The worms that surface when she coughs are “half moon shaped and sticky brown.”

The symptoms that our reader has been experiencing are as follows. Worms have surfaced from her lips and skin. “They cut off some circulation and make the parts of your body sore and swollen.” Her toes on her left foot “look like huge marshmallows.” The layers of worms in the bumps on her ears are “never ending” as she tries to pick them off. She has also experienced itchiness, and when she goes to scratch the itch, “it’s like a pocket of sticky water.” Her vision has also been affected.

We recommend that our reader consults an infectious disease specialist. As opposed to a doctor, they will take a situation like this seriously, as well as have the knowledge it takes to identify and treat the problem. The issue with doctors is that they do not tend to get training in the field of parasitic infections, and so are not qualified to treat the problem. Of course, that does not give them permission to dismiss their patients’ problems as imaginary. Our reader can look for a an infectious disease specialist if she so pleases by doing a Google search for ‘infectious disease physician (name of her closest big city)’ or ‘travel disease doctor (name of her closest big city.’

In conclusion, we want to assure our reader that we, unlike her three doctors, do not think her problems are imaginary; they are very much real. We urge her to contact an infectious disease specialist in order to get this accurately identified and properly treated. If possible, bringing samples (or sending photos if the consultation is not in person) of the worms that surface might also be a good idea, as it might make the job of the specialist easier. We wish the best of luck to our reader and that she may get the treatment she needs soon!

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