A picture that is viral on social media right now shows a fungal infection like a mini forest growing inside the ears of a young boy, who had a history of wearing earphones excessively.

Wu Yuhua, a throat, ear, and nose specialist from Beijing, China, said the 10-year-old boy was rushed to their hospital earlier this month with ear problems.

Upon investigation, the doctors found out that there were multiple black fungal growths occupying the inner ear of the 10-year-old boy.

Yuhua said he 10-year-old boy was rushed to the Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Shunyi District.

The child was diagnosed by doctors with mycosis, a fungal infection.

ENT believes that the infection was caused by the bad habits of the 10-year-old boy of keeping his earphones plugged in his ears for excessive amounts of time.

Doctor Wu said that the fungi inside his ear were like a black forest of “fungus”.

The mother of the boy reportedly took him to the hospital after the 10-year-old boy had itching and general discomfort in his ear.

The doctor believes that his earphones trapped moisture in his warm ear, which created the perfect environment for the mold to grow.

Not only that, but the medics also found out that the 10-year-old boy liked picking his ear, which is the reason how the spores managed to transfer from his hand into his ear.

Doctor Wu cleaned the fungus in the ear canal of the patient and placed him on the course of an antifungal medication.

He has since made a full recovery.

Dr. Wu is now advising everyone to keep their ears dry as possible so fungus and other types of bacteria will not grow inside our ears.

The clinical director of Earworx, Lisa Hellwege, talked about what could happen if we use earphones too much.

Lisa said:

Anything that obstructs that natural pathway of wax out of the ears can lead to wax buildup. As with earplugs and hearing aids, earphones sit in the part of the canal where wax is produced, and can actually stimulate the production of more wax when they are in use.

Time to stop using our earphones then.