Rather unpleasant footage has emerged from China of a doctor removing a cockroach from a man's ear.

The video, filmed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province on Friday, features images from inside the man's ear as the doctor attempts to remove the dead insect.

According to local reports, it crawled in there while he was asleep and stayed inside for three days before the man went to hospital. He sprayed insecticide into his ear but that only killed it and it was still stuck.

The doctor reportedly took less than a minute to remove it.