dried blood in ear?

[Mambo Dave]

Heya,

I went for a short shore dive on Sunday (in the Atlantic, SE Florida), and never got below 15 feet or so. The water and weather were great - clearer water than most dives, if that matters.

Much later I finally got to take a shower at home, and after cleaning out the inside of my right ear with a Q-tip I found what seemed to be a good amount of dried blood.

I instantly thought of all the people who have got ear infections around here lately, including one of my dive buddies, for which they needed antibiotics.

This is now about 36 hours after the dive and I feel fine.

So what was the blood? Could I have overpressurized my ears and caused the inner ear to bleed?

Thanks for any insight.

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi Mambo Dave,

For blood from the inner ear to end up in the external auditory canal there would need to be both a ruptured oval or round window and a breached ear drum ----> anatomy of the ear http://www.ukdivers.net/physiology/ear.htm. If such a situation existed, which is extremely unlikely, one would also experience immediate and unmistakable pain, vertigo and hearing loss.

With an infection of the external auditory canal there can be blood, but pus also would be expected as would itching, redness and possibly fever. The discomfort may worsen when the outer ear is pulled. Finally, without treatment it's unlikely that one would feel fine 36 hours after discovering the infection.

Dried blood in the outer ear which has no other apparent explanation may be due to a ruptured blood vessel in the ear drum secondary to overly vigorous equalization or to bleeding from previous insertions of inappropriate objects like Q-Tips. Any reputable ear specialist will tell the patient, "Don't put anything into the ear canal smaller than your elbow."

Continuing discharge, discomfort or signs of infection involving the ear should be evaluated by an ENT.

This is educational only and does not constitute or imply a doctor-patient relationship. It is not medical advice to you or any other individual and should not be construed as such.

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[Mambo Dave]

Thanks Doc!

Well, I didn't think I was equalizing too much, but I'd bet that was the culprit.

I'm going to try equalizing less, but more often, to reduce the chances of it happening again.

Best,

MD