Perforated Eardrum

Separating your outer ear canal from your middle ear is a thin, oval membrane called your eardrum, or tympanic membrane. This membrane protects the delicate structures of the middle and inner ear and vibrates when stimulating by sound waves, transmitting them to the small bones of the middle ear.

This eardrum can rupture easily; this condition is called a perforated eardrum. There are a variety of factors that can cause a perforated eardrum. An infection of the outer or middle ear is possibly the most common cause of a perforated eardrum; fluid in the ear increases due to infection and pressure on or behind the eardrum increases as well. The membrane will only stretch so far and if pressure is not relieved, the membrane will tear or burst.

Your eardrum may also become perforated after some kind of blunt trauma, such as a fall on the side of your head. Changes in air pressure that are rapid can sometimes lead to eardrum rupturing; these can occur while scuba diving or during take-off or landing on a plane. Loud noises can also lead to severe eardrum damage.

Ear leakage + a perforated eardrum may occur if the perforation is due to the membrane rupturing after pressure has been building for a while; when pressure causes a perforated eardrum, pain is felt and then relieved by the actual rupturing of the eardrum. The drainage could be clear, filled with pus or bloody. If your perforated eardrum is due to a sudden loud noise or change in pressure, you may experience a sharp, sudden pain in your ear. Tinnitus, vertigo and some degree of hearing loss may be other perforated eardrum symptoms.

If you’re asking yourself, “will a perforated eardrum heal”, the answer is “yes”. Most perforated eardrums heal in a matter of weeks to months without any treatment. Perforated eardrum treatment is sought if it seems like the membrane is not healing on its own. If the perforation is small, your doctor will try to use a paper patch to seal it; you might have to go in for multiple patch applications before the hole is completely sealed.

If this doesn’t work or if the hole is too big for a paper patch, your doctor may suggest surgery for your perforated eardrum, called tympanoplasty. In this procedure, a patch of tissue is placed across the hole and this allows the hole to heal. You usually only need to have this surgery performed once to heal the perforated ear drum completely. While you heal from your perforated eardrum, an antibiotic, penicillin for example, may be prescribed by your doctor.

If you’d like to see a perforated eardrum picture or if you’re wondering about infant perforated eardrum problems, the consequences of a perforated eardrum and scar tissue from a healed perforated eardrum, or flying with a perforated eardrum, see your physician; ask “can I fly in a plane with a perforated eardrum” before going on any kind of plane trip.