Perforated ear drum

[Bowler800]

This past Sunday I was trimming bushes and when I stood up after picking up some trimmigs, a twig on the bush slide down my ear canal and perforated my ear drum. The doc said the hole was about 25% of the ear drum. I wondering if anyone has experienced a perforated ear drum and how long do they usually take to heal. Also, have you had any complication with diving after it healed. Ofcourse, it happened a week before I was going to do my dives for the Deep Diver Specialty course. Thanks for your advise.

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi bowler800,

A ruptured eardrum will typically heal on its own within 2 months, although surgical repair may be required when the perforation remains. In the meantime, keep a close watch for infection.

While the healed area is probably not as strong as the original, uninjured drum, with complete resolution of the breach most divers with such a history do not have further problems given gentle equalization.

Of course the treating doctor will be in the best position to determine when it is safe to return to SCUBA.

Helpful?

Regards,

DocVikingo

This is educational only and does not constitute or imply a doctor-patient relationship. It is not medical advice.

 

[kkgodiving]

I would recommend that you consider using ProPlug to help prevent another rupture. I had my shares of ruptures and ProPlug has help to keep my drums intact for the last 30 dives. Additonally, do rinse your affected ear with fresh water and use disinfectant after every dive to prevent infection.

 

[DocVikingo]

Additonally, do rinse your affected ear with fresh water and use disinfectant after every dive to prevent infection (sic).

Hi kkgodiving,

I don't follow you recommendations here. Specifically:

The procedures you have recommend are used to help prevent external ear infections, of which the OP does not complain.

With perforation of the eardrum, middle ear, not external auditory canal infection is the primary worry.

How would rinsing with fresh water and using a "disinfectant" in the outer ear be of value to the OP?

Thanks,

DocVikingo

 

[kkgodiving]

How would rinsing with fresh water and using a "disinfectant" in the outer ear be of value to the OP?

Oops, I should have been more specific, that is infection of the outer ear. Thx.

 

[doctormike]

This past Sunday I was trimming bushes and when I stood up after picking up some trimmigs, a twig on the bush slide down my ear canal and perforated my ear drum.

This is a traumatic perforation (that is, something physical punctured the drum from the outside) as opposed to a perforation due to an ear infection or barotrauma. Although the latter is certainly traumatic to the person involved, they are classified differently!

The good news about traumatic perforations: In most cases, since there is no underlying Eustachian tube dysfunction, they often heal pretty quickly (depending on how big they are).

The bad news about traumatic perforations: In some cases, the thing that punctures the eardrum (not such a big deal) also hits the little chain of bones, and transmits this energy into the inner ear (potentially a much bigger deal!). This can result in a nerve hearing loss, which can be temporary or permanent. It is usually associated with dizziness and rapid onset of deafness, so the OP probably didn't have that. But it is the kind of thing that can be missed if you don't see an ENT doctor who has access to a microscope and an audiology booth in his or her office.

I have a patient who is the wife of a colleague, who was cleaning her ear with a Q-tip (nooo!!!!) and punctured her eardrum. Unfortunately, she also caused a permanent inner ear injury (irreversable deafness) as above. Now you see why I treat Q-tips like other doctors treat cigarettes!

One other reason for seeing an ENT doctor- sometimes the little flaps of the eardrum can be rearranged in the office, using a little piece of paper, to make healing quicker and more likely...

Good luck!

Mike