Ruptured eardrum

So why all the bed rest and staying still? Can I at least go for a bike ride, or am I strictly stuck on the couch?

vividpilot47 said:So why all the bed rest and staying still? Can I at least go for a bike ride, or am I strictly stuck on the couch?

If I were in your shoes, I’d just stay in bed. Especially if it’s windy out—don't risk it. Just stay put and head to the ENT specialist.

Forget about the seawater. It’s not even the salt water that matters here; it’s all about the pressure differentials.

Hey legend, you're everywhere 🙂. Honestly, my biggest headache right now is just keeping water out of my ear. I can forget about diving altogether because of the pressure issues. I have no clue if those earplugs actually help much since I can barely even get them in my head anyway.

I'm wondering if there’s anything that can speed up the healing process. I was even looking into homeopathy until I stumbled upon your posts on the subject 😁.

The worst part is I have to work at the beach as a DJ—just ocean noise plus constant racket for peanuts. It's a crappy situation, but the kicker is that I can't hear any low frequencies in my left ear. It feels totally hollow, just a weird, empty sensation in my head.

Look, there’s gotta be something out there to help a tumor heal faster. Most doctors don't actually know anything beyond what they find on Google. If anyone here has actually gone through surgery for this, I'd appreciate it if you could walk me through how the whole process works.

vividpilot47 said:Look, there’s gotta be something out there to help a tumor heal faster. Most doctors don't actually know anything beyond what they find on Google. If anyone here has actually gone through surgery for this, I'd appreciate it if you could walk me through how the whole process works.

Surgery should be the absolute last resort.
A perforated eardrum usually heals on its own—there isn't really a "magic pill" to speed things up, as it mostly just depends on your own body. However, if you're dealing with recurring perforations due to chronic infections or physical trauma, then surgery becomes a conversation worth having. By default, a hole in the eardrum isn't how things are supposed to be—it basically leaves a gateway for foreign objects to enter a space that should stay sealed off (to put it simply).
The complexity and the eventual outcome of the procedure can vary quite a bit depending on what caused the initial damage, but it's certainly not a minor thing.

Thanks for the straight answer. I’ve been digging around online, but it’s like this is some forbidden topic—nobody seems to have actual experience with this surgery. It’s been a month now and nothing is improving. I saw a private ENT specialist who told me a 4mm hole won't just close up on its own, but then another specialist said it could. Then a doctor told me it might heal itself and there's no need to worry, and so on and so forth. Nobody actually knows anything concrete.

It's honestly unbelievable to me that there isn't anything out there to speed up the process or jumpstart the healing.

As for the surgery itself, I don't know a single person who has gone through it. I've checked both local and international forums, but unfortunately, there's zero commentary on such a massive undertaking.

vividpilot47 said:Hey everyone, I need some advice if anyone here knows what they're talking about.

Basically, I took a hit to my left ear and ruptured my eardrum. The doctor says there's a hole about 1mm wide. My hearing is muffled, and I can't pick up bass or those deep tones at all. It’s a disgusting feeling. This actually happened once before five years ago, but the drum healed on its own back then. I even went for hearing tests which came out okay, even though my left side was weaker. The drum healed completely and worked fine until now.

Questions:

* Can an eardrum heal normally again, or is it harder since this is the second time?
* Are there any supplements or meds that help speed up the healing process?
* Roughly how long does this take? I have a trip to Florida coming up and I don't want it ruined.😢
* If it doesn't heal, has anyone dealt with surgery? How's the sound quality afterward? I happen to be a DJ, so this is pretty bad news for me..

Thanks for any input. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go bang my head against a wall.😢

I think you can definitely pull it off, just be super careful about getting water stuck in your ear... that's the worst. But honestly? You're probably better off just heading to the doctor to be safe!

vividpilot47 said:Thanks for the straight answer. I’ve been digging around online, but it’s like this is some forbidden topic—nobody seems to have actual experience with this surgery. It’s been a month now and nothing is improving. I saw a private ENT specialist who told me a 4mm hole won't just close up on its own, but then another specialist said it could. Then a doctor told me it might heal itself and there's no need to worry, and so on and so forth. Nobody actually knows anything concrete.

It's honestly unbelievable to me that there isn't anything out there to speed up the process or jumpstart the healing.

As for the surgery itself, I don't know a single person who has gone through it. I've checked both local and international forums, but unfortunately, there's zero commentary on such a massive undertaking.

It’s not quite an SF—though they certainly try to take a conservative approach to solving these issues. In this specific case, we're looking at spontaneous healing if those membrane pieces happen to overlap perfectly. The real question is what kind of scarring occurs during that healing process, and how much that scar might distort the sound transfer, given that the membrane's elasticity could be compromised.
The measurements seem a bit inconsistent here; you mentioned 1mm first, but then later suggested it could be up to 4mm.
That is a massive difference...
Still, someone will eventually step up and perform the operation...

4 mm? That’s actually pretty massive for something as tiny as an eardrum. You really ought to go see a solid audiologist. What city are you in?

Enough of this crap. One doctor told me it was 1 mm, then my specialist claimed there was no perforation at all. He told me I could go swimming without a worry, but after I insisted he take another look, he suddenly found a 4mm perforation and said there’s zero chance it heals on its own. It’s been 2 months and nothing has changed. 😢I even went to see a doctor in Chicago who suggested it might heal spontaneously if I just waited six months. As for the surgery itself, it feels like a total scam. I have no idea who actually performed the initial procedure, and whenever I ask for info, everyone just gives me copy-paste answers from internet forums. My eardrum popped once before, but it healed perfectly within two months. This time? No luck. 😢..

That's why I'm asking: does anyone know if there are any alternatives to surgery? Or does anyone know someone who's actually gone through it and can share their experience? Going under the knife isn't exactly a walk in the park, especially when people are constantly second-guessing each other's heads. Damn.

Diagnosis: 4mm perforation, anterior inferior quadrant..

Lawrence Wells said:4 mm? That’s actually pretty massive for something as tiny as an eardrum. You really ought to go see a solid audiologist. What city are you in?

I'm in New York City. If you know someone good, let me know. Honestly, a 4 mm hole is about a third of the eardrum. In my opinion, those odds are pretty slim.

You really ought to check out Vineyard—they have some incredible audiology specialists over there.

vividpilot47 said:Enough of this crap. One doctor told me it was 1 mm, then my specialist claimed there was no perforation at all. He told me I could go swimming without a worry, but after I insisted he take another look, he suddenly found a 4mm perforation and said there’s zero chance it heals on its own. It’s been 2 months and nothing has changed. 😢I even went to see a doctor in Chicago who suggested it might heal spontaneously if I just waited six months. As for the surgery itself, it feels like a total scam. I have no idea who actually performed the initial procedure, and whenever I ask for info, everyone just gives me copy-paste answers from internet forums. My eardrum popped once before, but it healed perfectly within two months. This time? No luck. 😢..

That's why I'm asking: does anyone know if there are any alternatives to surgery? Or does anyone know someone who's actually gone through it and can share their experience? Going under the knife isn't exactly a walk in the park, especially when people are constantly second-guessing each other's heads. Damn.

Diagnosis: 4mm perforation, anterior inferior quadrant..

Look, I’ve had that procedure myself, but the eardrum patching—tympanoplasty—was just one part of my overall surgery. There are several different types of tympanoplasty, and as I mentioned, how complex it is really depends on what caused the damage in the first place. On one hand, a hole in the eardrum might not be dangerous, but on the other, the surgery itself isn't exactly a walk in the park either. Here is a helpful link regarding eardrum perforations: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ear-problems/ As for the surgeon, I also recommend sticking with a top-tier clinic like Mayo Clinic—don't just let anyone perform this on you. In fact, I’d suggest having a specialist give you a definitive assessment on whether you truly need the surgery first.

Lawrence Wells said:You really ought to check out Vineyard—they have some incredible audiology specialists over there.

While an audiologist can definitely pin down the extent of the hearing loss, anything beyond that really falls into the hands of an ear surgery subspecialist.

That’s why getting a referral to the ENT department at Vineyard is such a smart move—it’s one of those powerhouse institutions where you can actually get seen within a pretty reasonable timeframe.

vividpilot47 said:Enough of this crap. One doctor told me it was 1 mm, then my specialist claimed there was no perforation at all. He told me I could go swimming without a worry, but after I insisted he take another look, he suddenly found a 4mm perforation and said there’s zero chance it heals on its own. It’s been 2 months and nothing has changed. 😢I even went to see a doctor in Chicago who suggested it might heal spontaneously if I just waited six months. As for the surgery itself, it feels like a total scam. I have no idea who actually performed the initial procedure, and whenever I ask for info, everyone just gives me copy-paste answers from internet forums. My eardrum popped once before, but it healed perfectly within two months. This time? No luck. 😢..

That's why I'm asking: does anyone know if there are any alternatives to surgery? Or does anyone know someone who's actually gone through it and can share their experience? Going under the knife isn't exactly a walk in the park, especially when people are constantly second-guessing each other's heads. Damn.

Diagnosis: 4mm perforation, anterior inferior quadrant..

Yeah, it’s pretty certain you’re looking at a significant perforation, or maybe the edges of the drum aren't even meeting, which would prevent healing.
Honestly, it doesn't matter if you know someone personally or if you spend hours reading through a mountain of other people's opinions and experiences, because every single case is unique.
What you really need is an ENT specialist you can actually trust—someone who will assess the situation based on a functional evaluation of your hearing loss using a specific audiometric test.

vividpilot47 said:Enough of this crap. One doctor told me it was 1 mm, then my specialist claimed there was no perforation at all. He told me I could go swimming without a worry, but after I insisted he take another look, he suddenly found a 4mm perforation and said there’s zero chance it heals on its own. It’s been 2 months and nothing has changed. 😢I even went to see a doctor in Chicago who suggested it might heal spontaneously if I just waited six months. As for the surgery itself, it feels like a total scam. I have no idea who actually performed the initial procedure, and whenever I ask for info, everyone just gives me copy-paste answers from internet forums. My eardrum popped once before, but it healed perfectly within two months. This time? No luck. 😢..

That's why I'm asking: does anyone know if there are any alternatives to surgery? Or does anyone know someone who's actually gone through it and can share their experience? Going under the knife isn't exactly a walk in the park, especially when people are constantly second-guessing each other's heads. Damn.

Diagnosis: 4mm perforation, anterior inferior quadrant..

Don't overcomplicate things. The more you procrastinate out of fear or whatever else, the more likely you are to run into complications down the road. Just leave the medical decisions to the professionals.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Anyway, Harold Evans7, tell me how the surgery went and how you're feeling now. Are you happy with the results?

On another note, when I woke up yesterday, I could hear different frequencies in my ear. Plus, if I press my hand against it, there’s this resistance—I think it's on the right side. Feels like a good sign that something is actually happening. We'll see.

P.S. Sorry for the typos, typing on a Turkish keyboard... lol.

Later.

Hey everyone, just got back from seeing my ENT in New York City, Robert Miller3, and he confirmed what I was hoping—my eardrum has healed. I’ve already been able to feel low-frequency changes again, like shifts in air pressure when closing doors or windows in a car.

So, here’s the full story from start to finish.

Basically, two months ago after an impact, I ended up in the ER with a 1mm perforation. My regular doctor checked me later and said it looked more like 4mm, so she told me to see a specialist. I decided to go private and saw Dr. Goran med.

At first, the doctor told me there was no perforation and that I could swim or work out however I wanted. But since I kept insisting my hearing was still off, he took another look. Five minutes later, he found a 4mm perforation on the lower front side. He classified it as medium-sized and told me I needed surgery immediately because there was no way it would heal on its own.

Well, fast forward two months and four days, and it healed completely. The weird part? The improvement in my hearing happened all at once. It was actually pretty fascinating because I expected it to be a slow process.

Now that it's healed, I figure I should probably stay cautious for at least another month until it fully toughens up. Not sure if I'm right about that, though.

I'm glad you're feeling better. I have to admit, it seems a bit strange to me that a GP could pinpoint the perforation size while a specialist didn't catch it right away—though, to be fair, doctors can be hit or miss, as I've learned firsthand. Still, the healing process is so individual to everyone.

My own surgery turned out great because my surgeon was a top-tier expert, but my previous one was a nightmare. Beyond just the tympanoplasty (also known as myringoplasty)—basically patching the eardrum—it involved middle ear surgery that left me dealing with two days of vomiting and a totally wrecked sense of balance. I found out later that this is actually fairly common with middle ear procedures since the surgeon is working so close to the vestibular system. Unfortunately, doctors rarely mention this or will only give you a passing hint. Looking back, I know I would have been better mentally prepared if I'd known what to expect, which is why I always find value in listening to others' experiences—provided you take them with a grain of salt, since everyone's experience is subjective.

In my case, the patch job—the tympanoplasty—was done by taking a tiny piece of tissue from a specific spot (it sounds scarier than it is, like using fascia from the temporal muscle near the temple), prepping it, and using an underlay technique to tuck it under the eardrum. That’s just a simplified, layman's version of it, anyway.
The procedure was done under general anesthesia, and they made an incision behind my ear, which involves "drilling" through the temporal bone. For me, that part was 😲 There is also an approach through the ear canal, but that's entirely up to the surgeon's preference. After a surgery like this, you really have to be careful about noise—avoiding sudden loud sounds, keeping water out, and so on.
Being a DJ doesn't exactly make things easier for you.😉

Unfortunately, I’ve gotta be careful, though I don't know for how long. My eardrum already ruptured once, but after about 4 or 5 months, we weren't having any issues with loud music or noise. Once I get back to New York City, I'm heading to the Vineyard for one more checkup. Honestly, I don't give a damn about the noise or the DJ if it's going to mess up my hearing. I hope you can hear fine after the surgery and, more importantly, that you can shower normally without any issues. 🙂