Earbud piece was stuck in British man's ear for five years

Nov. 14 (UPI) -- A British man who feared he was going deaf used a home endoscope kit and discovered a piece of an earbud had been stuck in his ear for about five years.

Wallace Lee of Weymouth, Dorset, said he had been experiencing hearing loss for the past few years, and ended up buying a home endoscope kit to see if he could identify the issue.

The tiny camera alerted him to a small white object inside his ear.

"Five years ago when I was visiting my family in Australia I bought these little earplugs that you can put different attachments in, depending on the noise you want to phase out on an aircraft," Lee told the BBC. "One of these little attachments had lodged in there and it had been in there ever since."

Lee visited an ear, nose and throat surgeon, who was able to remove the offending object.

"Instantly I could hear everything in the room. The fog that was in my head for all those years went and left -- and I could hear perfectly well," he said.