This is the hair-raising moment when doctors discovered a giant cockroach wriggling inside a young man's ear.

The patient visited a clinic in Shanghai, China, after reportedly experiencing sudden discomfort in his left ear, on November 22.

Stunned doctors inserted a small camera in his ear to examine the issue and found a big roach squirming in his ear canal.

The surprised doctor quickly retracted the camera, but immediately shook off the initial shock and went back in with a pair of medical tweezers.

Phone footage shows her grabbing the insect by one of its legs and pulling it out of the patient's ear while laughing and exclaiming in apparent disgust.

The relieved patient later said he did not know when the cockroach entered his ear but guessed it must have occurred while he was sleeping.