What is a ruptured eardrum?
Your eardrum is a flexible membrane that separates your outer ear from your middle ear. You can rupture your eardrum if you have a severe middle ear infection or you injure or damage your eardrum. A ruptured eardrum may affect your hearing and sense of balance. Ruptured eardrums often heal without treatment. Sometimes, however, you may need surgery to repair your damaged eardrum. Protecting your ears is the best way to prevent ruptured eardrums.
How does a ruptured eardrum affect my body?
Your eardrum is one of many working parts in your hearing system. Your outer ear collects sounds that make your eardrum vibrate. Those vibrations create a signal for your auditory nerve that the nerve sends to your brain. Your brain translates those signals into sound. When you rupture your eardrum, it’s as if there’s a short circuit in your hearing system because your eardrum can’t transmit sound effectively.
Your eardrum also protects your middle ear from foreign substances like water, bacteria and debris like skin cells. A ruptured eardrum is an easy target for bacteria that cause ear infections (otitis media).
Sometimes, skin cells and other debris pass into your middle ear, forming a middle ear cyst (cholesteatoma). These cysts have proteins that may damage your middle ear bones. Middle ear cysts also increase your risk of developing middle ear infections.
Is a ruptured eardrum serious?
In some instances, a ruptured eardrum maybe a serious health issue if the hole or tear in your ear doesn’t heal on its own. For example, a ruptured eardrum can cause the following:
FAQs
Most ruptured (perforated) eardrums heal without treatment within a few weeks. Your provider may prescribe antibiotic drops if there's evidence of infection. If the tear or hole in the eardrum doesn't heal by itself, treatment will likely involve procedures to close the tear or hole.
How many days does a ruptured eardrum take to heal? ›
Most small eardrum perforations will heal within three to six weeks. Other eardrums may heal many months after the initial rupture. This time frame varies depending on the size of the hole in your eardrum. Your ear may take longer to heal if you have an ear infection or other complications.
What happens if you don't fix a ruptured eardrum? ›
A tear in the eardrum can allow bacteria and other things to get into the middle ear and inner ear. This could lead to an infection that might cause more permanent hearing damage. Most perforated eardrums heal in a few days to weeks. If they don't heal, sometimes doctors do a surgery to repair the hole.
How do you tell the difference between an ear infection and a ruptured eardrum? ›
Normally a doctor can diagnose a bacterial ear infection by looking at the eardrum. It will be bulging and have pus behind it. If the eardrum ruptures, the eardrum can't be seen because it's covered with pus. So the presence of the discharge makes the diagnosis.
Does a ruptured eardrum feel blocked? ›
Does a ruptured eardrum feel like it's clogged? At the time your eardrum ruptures, you will likely feel a sharp pain in your ear that can be intense. Before your eardrum ruptures, you may have a feeling of pressure in your ear that may feel clogged.
What are the do's and don'ts of a perforated eardrum? ›
You may do that by:
- Keeping your eardrum dry: Use waterproof earplugs or cotton balls coated with petroleum jelly when you shower or take a bath. ...
- Don't clean your ears: Even gentle cleaning may keep your eardrum from healing.
- Avoid blowing your nose: If possible, don't blow your nose while your eardrum is healing.
Promote healing by not blowing your nose any more than absolutely necessary. Blowing your nose creates pressure in your ears. Trying to clear your ears by holding your breath, blocking your nose, and blowing also creates high pressure in your ears. The increased pressure can be painful and slow your eardrum's healing.
What side should I sleep on with a ruptured eardrum? ›
Keep pressure off the ear that has a ruptured eardrum. If you have a ruptured eardrum in just one ear, sleep on the other side of your body. Or if you usually sleep on your back or you have ruptures in both eardrums, sleep with your head elevated a couple of inches above the rest of your body.
Can you make a ruptured eardrum worse? ›
Anything you put into your ear canal can make the rupture worse. Don't blow your nose hard. This can damage your eardrum from the inner side out. Don't get water in your ear.
What ear drops to avoid with perforated eardrum? ›
For this reason, avoid eardrops containing gentamicin, neomycin sulfate, or tobramycin in the presence of TMP. Avoiding contamination of the middle ear space with water via the TMP is critical in minimizing otorrhea from a perforation.
A ruptured eardrum from an ear infection usually isn't an emergency. In fact, the rupture often relieves pressure and pain. It usually heals within hours or days. But you should have the ear looked at by a healthcare provider within 24 hours.
How painful is a perforated eardrum? ›
A perforated eardrum is a hole or tear in the eardrum. It is not usually painful but can be uncomfortable. A perforated eardrum usually heals within a few weeks or months provided the ear is kept dry and there's no infection.
What happens if you get water in a perforated eardrum? ›
A wet ear will affect healing and may result in a serious infection. “We usually recommend placing a cotton ball covered in Vaseline in the ear when showering and avoiding putting your head under water,” Adams said. With proper care, a small, punctured eardrum may recover in a few weeks or few months.
