A ruptured eardrum can cause ear infections and mild hearing loss. Symptoms include ear pain, ringing in the ears, dizziness, and ear discharge. Causes include loud sounds, pressure, and objects in the ear. Treatment may involve waiting for the eardrum to heal on its own, using a paper plaster, or surgery.
A ruptured eardrum, also called a punctured eardrum, is an eardrum that has a hole or tear. This type of ear problem can make ear infections much more likely to occur. Sometimes people with ruptured eardrums also develop mild hearing loss from the rupture. Most of the time a ruptured eardrum will correct itself, but it may take a few weeks for the eardrum to fully return to normal. If the eardrum doesn’t repair itself, surgery may be needed.
Most people who have ruptured eardrums complain of severe ear pain along with ringing in the ears, dizziness, and ear discharge, which may be clear or bloody. Nausea is also a common side effect of a ruptured eardrum and is most likely the result of a loss of balance, which could also cause dizziness. There are several things that can cause an eardrum to rupture, including incredibly loud sounds, pressure from excessive drainage inside the ear, and objects inside the ear such as bobby pins or cotton buds, which people often use to clean the ears. A ruptured eardrum could also be the result of a drastic change in air pressure, similar to what people experience when flying in airplanes.
If a ruptured eardrum is suspected, a doctor’s visit is usually advisable. Doctors can often determine whether an eardrum has ruptured by doing several tests, including hearing tests and laboratory tests for ear discharge and drainage. In most cases, doctors tell patients with ruptured eardrums to wait a few weeks and see if the tear or hole in the ear closes up on its own. If the patient returns within a few weeks and the tear is still present, further treatment is usually required.
Most doctors will attempt to treat a ruptured eardrum with a paper plaster sealed over the hole in the eardrum. Doctors can apply a type of chemical to the eardrum to encourage the hole to close on its own. If the patch on the eardrum proves ineffective, outpatient surgery is often done to close the hole. During surgery, doctors usually remove a small amount of the patient’s skin from another part of the body and graft the skin over the hole in the eardrum. Most patients have no difficulty with the procedure and usually correct the tear in the ear without further problems.
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