Blown Eardrum

Took a bad fall while riding in chop today and landed on the side of my face. Now I have blood/fluid draining from my ear and it hurts like a biyatch. Anyone have any suggestions for treatment of a blown eardrum? I want to make sure there will be no chance of infection? I dont know if I should go see a specialist, since I hear that most of the time there is not much they do for you.

dr. will give you some antibiotics and tell you to lay on your side so it can drain. Heating pad helped me deal with the pain.

Go to an urgent care center and get it looked at ASAP. After mine blew, I waited unitl the next day and ended up losing my hearing for nearly a month in that ear and it to this day isn't the same. My ear got infected and wasn inflamed so no meds could get to the infection...it wasn't fun.

Yep, go and get it looked at tomorrow for sure - urgent care if your normal GP isn't open. You'll get a script for Ciprodex and it will fight any infection. If you have blood drainage, it's not minor - don't want to mess with your hearing...

Get to a doc. Get some antibiotics and ear drops. Half way thru the course at the moment...

It sucks, I did this several years ago from casing the wake and slamming the wash.......yuck.

www.midwestwakeboarder.com

Do not put alcohol in your ear....it will hurt like hell.

but drinking the alcohol might help!! :-)

Well, before i talked to the doc, i wanted to get it disinfected from the lake water, so i poured some alcohol in it....HIGHLY UNRECOMMENDED!!! Hurt like the dickens. Talked to the specialist last night, he told me to keep it dry and let it drain. I need to go in for a hearing test this week to make sure any ear bones are in tact.

Todd, everyone here is right....go to doc for script of antibiotics. There are several he will choose from..depends on which one he likes the most. All will do the same thing. Eardrum is about 3 cell layers thick so very thin and usually closes in 10 days to 2 weeks.

I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU PUT ALCOHOL THROUGH A BLOWN EARDRUM!!!AGHHHHHH And I did mean to yell at you!! Wear a helmet and earplugs!!!!!!!

Hey man I Feel your pain. I had it happen 2 years ago all I did was let it drain and take over the counter pain meds. I would sugest that you go a different route and see a Doc. for sure.

i did mine the same way in 95... had surgery to repair it. Easy recovery - used a slice of cartilage from the "tragus" that triangle shaped piece on the front side of the ear. they just lay it on there and then pack the ear with protein foam and gauze. Ringing stopped in about 3 months - almost perfect hearing no infection (oh and by the way..my "friends" talked me into the alcohol in the ear... i didnt stop cussing for 5 minutes.. Da*% that hurt.. Bad idea)
Another thing that i think help stopped the ringing (aka tinitus) was Ginko Biloba... Really it worked.. 2 a day. But look into the surgery. If the hole is big enuf - mine was.. then ask them to operate..it'll save your hearing..
And Now... I Ride with a Helmet - one with ear guards - Pro tec Wake Helmet is a nice one..I got the Matte Black one and it keeps the headaches away after a nasty fall too- May not "look cool".. but having to learn american sign language as a primary language is worse- especially if it's preventable..

I serously doubt you blew your eardrum.

You likely perforated the inner ear membrane like most wakeboarders.

But either way, don't put alcohol in your ear.

Definitely see a doctor. Ear infection could be next.

Get some wax plugs. You'll need them for the next month.

If he's bleeding and having fluid coming from his ear, then he blew his eardrum, my buddie did it on saturday doing a crow mobe and caught his healside edge and got biatch slapped. Crazy thing is he was wearing a helmet with ear protection also, but it still blew, guess enough air pressure built up in the helmet from the fall to blow his eardrum. Get it checked out by a ENT specialist, and if need be get the surgery, sometimes it's the only real way to repair a blown eardrum if it's bad enough.

Tearing the inner ear is often mistaken for "Blowning the ear drum." Especially by wakeboarders. It bleeds, it hurts, and hearing is muffled for weeks. Then it's fine again.

Did the doctor tell your buddy her "blew his eardrum?"

Tympanic membrane is the actual term for the ear drum, and it is very common for it to become perforated from a hard slap on the water. The size and location of the hole determines the length of time it will take to heal, but it usually closes up within a few days. Your hearing may be affected until it completely heals.

If there is pain, blood, or drainage, you will want to see an ENT, and keep water out of your ear because it can cause an infection. Definitely wear some plugs next time out.

(Message edited by girlboarder on June 01, 2006)

Quick question:

Two days I took a huge fall, and there was a really loud boom in my ear. Right now I can hear perfectly, but the bottom part of the passageway from the outer ear to the middle ear is sore. Any thoughts?

Thanks

Hey Russ, I ride with Bob and Tim a lot, well Bob more than Tim, Bob actually came up here and rode with us yesterday.

J-rod, a little more info. The guy Russ is talking about is my friend also, he blew an eardrum before and had to have surgery, ever since he's been wearing a Gaff helmet because they're supposed to have the best ear protection. I was completely shocked when I heard what happened, knowing he always wears the helmet. A specialist checked him out and from what his dad told me they're pretty sure it's blown, but they have to wait for the drops to do their work to make sure (I'm not sure if they could see because of blood or swelling or something). Hopefully it won't be blown and it'll just be torn and it'll heal up quickly, but it's a total bummer because he took all the precaution he could and this still happened.

Russ, helmets are a good thing and we all should probably wear one, but believe it or not people blow eardrums a lot wearing helmets.

Wear ear plugs guys....helmet flaps don't do it. But then if you all wore ear plugs you wouldn't have anything to post on this thread!!

I've heard of people blowing eardrums with the Protec Helmets with the flaps and other similar helemets, but never with a Gath (spelled it wrong above).

Anyone tried these: www.proplugs.com ? Unlike other plugs, these are vented to still allow for equalizing. I'm hopefully going to be able to try a pair this weekend.

Tim - I have used those for years. I use them for Scuba diving and whitewater kayaking. They work great.

How about headphones/earbuds? - Will the new LF mp3 keep protect your ears too. It will help sell it to the wife.

dont ride in the chop or dont fall would be my best suggestion.

Wow, sounds like your a genius....

when i blew out my ear drum for the second time I asked my ent about ear plugs. I received a quick and stern "NO". followed by her telling me the damage it can cause is severe and wearing a helmet although not fool proof is the only thing to do.

Douglas...Is that bc the pressure can push the plug into the drum? I was wondering about that bc all of the extreme watersports ProPlugs recommend vented plugs. I picked up some silicon ear plugs this eve so I can ride and keep this sucka dry.

I would get a second opinion if I was you. As a nurse, that is about the dumbest thing I have ever heard an ENT doc say. I was talking to one the other day while I was at work and they said any earplug is acceptable and the ONLY way to keep it from rupturing from hard impact. And there has been some thought that the plastic ones that go in your ears can be pushed deeper in your ear. He said is is almost anatomically impossible because of how small the canal is relative to the ear plug. Just my 10 cents.