The following are some of the things you need to know:
I Accidentally Ate Maggots – How To Get Rid Of Worms In Your Body?
In this article we will tell you how to get rid of maggots in your body. You may have heard about it before, but never really knew all the details. So here’s a little bit more info on it!
What Is Maggot Infestation?
Maggots are small insects that feed on dead or dying organic matter such as blood, hair, skin flakes, etc. They come from other animals and sometimes even plants. They don’t have any mouth parts so they cannot bite you directly like a mosquito does. However, they can still transmit diseases. For example, if you eat raw meat with maggots in it, then those maggots could potentially infect you. If you swallow them though, then they won’t cause any problems since they’re not alive yet.
How Do Maggots Live In My Belly?
Most people think that maggots just crawl around inside their belly and die there when no longer needed. That’s definitely not true!
If you swallow maggots, they don’t even make their way into your stomach right away. Instead they stay in your esophagus and slowly crawl their way down. This is sometimes done within a few hours, but it can take days or even weeks to fully happen.
Now that they’re in your stomach, the maggots will start eating the dead tissue (Call this A). Your stomach naturally produces mucus to protect itself (Call this B). After some time, the dead tissue is gone and the maggots are ready to start eating the mucus (Call this C).
It’s interesting to note that humans and other animals don’t usually vomit when their stomachs have maggots in them. The maggots actually clean out the dead tissue and keep the mucus layers fairly thin.
How Do I Get Maggots In My Belly?
Ingesting eggs is one way. If a woman has a heavy infection of certain types of worms, her babies can get maggots in their bellies. This is very rare in the United States though and hasn’t been seen for many decades.
Another way to get maggots in your belly is by eating food that contains fly eggs in it. Examples include poorly cleaned meat or fruit that contains insect eggs.
What Should I Do If I Have Maggots In My Belly?
Most people don’t even know they have maggots in their belly since they don’t do any harm and the human body is a big place to explore. The only reason to find out is if the person is very sick and needs surgery, but the doctor needs to know if there are any maggots in the belly before they operate. If you think you might have ingested fly eggs and are concerned, tell your doctor. They will either do an x-ray or ultrasound of your belly (or both) to see if there are any objects inside that shouldn’t be there.
If you do have maggots in your belly, it’s nothing to worry about. No one has ever died from them and they won’t hurt you. They can occasionally cause stomach cramps though if you move around a lot. If the cramps are bad, tell your doctor and they can give you medication for it.
How Do I Get Maggots Out Of My Belly?
If you take certain types of medicines, they can kill the maggots and your body will easily pass the dead maggots in a few days. The meds used for this are called antiparasitics. Your doctor may also suggest that you stop eating and drinking anything for a few days before the operation to help the maggots come out naturally (called a purge).
If you don’t want to take medication or do a purge, surgery is the only other option. Your doctor will make a small incision in your belly and pull the maggots out. This is rare though since most people can tolerate a few maggots in their belly without any problem at all.
Interesting Fact: The world record for having the most maggots in the belly is held by a man from India. He had 57 live maggots pulled out of his stomach in 2012. He says he often eats while walking and buys street food. He thought the pains he was having were just a bad stomach.
Can I Prevent Maggots In My Belly?
Of course. The easiest way is to not eat anything that contains even one fly egg. A hard boiled egg is safe to eat for example, but an egg salad sandwich isn’t. This may be a bit strict though and most people don’t need to worry about this at all.
You can also take medication to kill the eggs before they hatch. This is recommended if you are immunodeficient (has a weak immune system) or have HIV since your body can’t fight off fly eggs as well. It’s also a good idea if you are pregnant or elderly since these are also groups that have weakened immune systems.
If you eat raw meat, parasites like tapeworms can get in there too. Cooking your meat kills the eggs before you eat them and keeps you safe.
Sources And Further Reading:
How Maggots Got In Her Stomach
Why You Don’t Always Need To Worry About Maggots In Your Belly
By Alison Moore
Mom Answers
Does My Bellybutton Fall Into My Belly When I Lye Down?
I’m not sure why this would be worrying you but, no, your belly button doesn’t move into your belly. It stays in the same place even when you are lying down. It is quite common for people to think that it has disappeared though since it can become a little stretched and the surrounding skin grows over it.
Why Would A Tongue Patch Prevent Me From Eating Hot Peppers?
It doesn’t! I have no idea why you mother told you this, but there is no way to make a tongue patch that would prevent you from tasting spicy food.
Sources & references used in this article:
A review of the use of maggots in wound therapy by A Gupta – Annals of plastic surgery, 2008 – journals.lww.com
Medicinal maggots: an ancient remedy for some contemporary afflictions by RA Sherman, MJR Hall, S Thomas – Annual review of …, 2000 – annualreviews.org
Maggot debridement therapy (mdt): it is safe and economic for treating a diabetic foot ulcer by AHF El-Tawdy, EAH Ibrahim, ES Abdallah… – Journal of the …, 2016 – journals.ekb.eg
