Four months of migraines - and then they discovered what was growing in his eye

A 42-year-old resident of Siberia suffered from four months of migraines, double vision, and recurring infections after a branch hit his face. Doctors in Yakutsk discovered a seed that had sprouted in his conjunctiva and developed a 3 mm root. The seed was removed in a short procedure, and the pain disappeared.

Maksim Sleptsov, a 42-year-old welder and plumber from Siberia, suffered for four months from severe headaches, double vision, and recurring eye infections after a branch hit his face during a forest walk in June. Initially thinking it was a minor injury, the seed remained lodged in his conjunctiva, sprouted, and developed a root about three millimeters long that penetrated the tissue. Only after returning to Yakutsk, the capital of the Sakha Republic, was the source of his pain diagnosed. On October 25, the seed was removed in a five-minute procedure by ophthalmologist Yelizaveta Karpova using a fine needle under local anesthesia. According to her, had the seed remained, it could have led to a corneal ulcer and even vision loss. After the procedure, the headaches disappeared. The article notes that the case is unusual but not the first of its kind, and that the plant species to which the seed belonged was not disclosed.