Your eardrum is a protective barrier in your middle ear; it protects the rest of your ear from infection causing bacteria. It also plays a crucial role in hearing by vibrating against sound waves.
With such a crucial role to your health and everyday life, protecting your eardrum is an important part of good ear care.
What happens if your eardrum ruptures? Aside from intense pain, you can also experience challenges with hearing and have a greater risk of infection.
Read on to learn the causes of an eardrum rupture, potential treatment options, and how our ENT center in Nashville can help you heal.
What Is a Ruptured Eardrum?
A ruptured eardrum is called a tympanic membrane perforation, and it occurs when the eardrum tears. Much like the top of a real drum can be punctured, your eardrum’s outer layer can be torn.
The ruptured eardrum can lead to pain, hearing loss, ear ringing (tinnitus), dizziness, and nausea. It also increases the risk of ear infection as bacteria is able to enter through the hole or tear.
Potential causes of a ruptured eardrum include:
A severe middle ear infection (acute otitis media)
Perforation from a pointed object (like a Q-tip or bobby pin)
Intense pressure changes inside the ear (barotrauma)
Flying with an ear infection
Symptoms
It’s often easy to tell when you have a ruptured eardrum due to the sharp pain that causes it. However, some patients don’t realize their pain was caused by a rupture since it quickly subsides.
Here are the symptoms of a ruptured eardrum to watch out for:
Sharp ear pain that disappears quickly
Puss, mucus, or bloody drainage from your affected ear
Persistent ringing or buzzing sound
Feeling dizzy or as though your head is spinning (vertigo)
Hearing loss (sounds may appear far away or muffled)
Nausea or vomiting as a result of dizziness
Ear infection symptoms (pain, redness, discharge, hearing loss)
Diagnosing
If you experience any of these symptoms, it’s a good idea to reach out to an ENT clinic right away. A professional can perform an exam using an otoscope, a specialized tool with a light that can help them see inside your ear.
While an otoscopic exam can diagnose an eardrum rupture, there may be reduced visibility due to wax or fluid buildup. In this case, the doctor will clean your ear canal and try again. They might also blow a puff of air into your ear to see if the eardrum moves. If it doesn’t, then it’s ruptured.
The doctor might also perform a hearing test to see how much the ruptured eardrum has impacted your hearing. Common hearing tests include listening to different pitches of sound through headphones, or listening to tones on a tuning fork.
The good news is that if you have hearing loss from a ruptured eardrum, it will likely heal by itself. Once the eardrum recovers, your hearing should return to normal.
How to Prevent
There are several ways you can protect your eardrum rupturing. Here are our top tips:
Never insert foreign objects, like cotton swabs, in your ear to scratch an itch or clean out wax
Avoid flying when you have an ear infection
Wear protective ear covers or earplugs when you are in environments over 85 dB
Get treatment for any ear infection right away
If you ever experience symptoms, the best thing to do is contact a professional. Avoid any over-the-counter treatments that involve inserting drops or objects into the ear. Medication may leak through the hole or tear and cause an infection.
Call OAT Today!
At Nashville ENT center, we provide rapid diagnosis, pain relief, and treatment to help you heal from a ruptured eardrum. The Otolaryngology Associates of Tennessee (OAT) team is always here to help.
Please call us at (615) 327-4449 or fill out this online form to schedule an appointment.
