Sir, a patient became aware of a 'scuttling' noise whilst alone in his house and proceeded to investigate this (which he thought may have been a mouse) by buying an endoscope on eBay for £5.50! Distracted by his new gadget, he proceeded to have a look inside his own mouth and noticed a lump. Alarmed by this, he visited his dentist who took a photo (Fig. 1), which shows a small mucous retention cyst (resolved) on the right fauces, and then referred the patient to the oral and maxillofacial department at Hull Royal Infirmary. On examination there was no cervical lymphadenopathy, facial asymmetry or any abnormality detected in his mouth. The patient was reassured and discharged from the department.

Figure 1
figure 1

Small mucous retention cyst on the right fauces

Full size image

The role of self-diagnosis is usually agreed by the health professions to be inconsistent due to patients' lack of technical understanding of medical problems.1 As a profession we use expensive instruments, but inexpensive tools are available to the general public. While we are not advocating the use of these instruments we warn that more self-referrals may ensue as a consequence.

I suspect that this endoscope may have needed oiling regularly, otherwise it too would have squeaked!