Ruptured eardrum

So you're saying Dr. Goran med isn't even worth a look?

I don't want to trash someone without knowing them, but I've been screwed over twice now on things that actually matter. So, who can tell me what's really going on?

Also, if anyone here has gone through kidney surgery, please share your experience. Honestly, there’s zero helpful info on any American or English forums. Thanks.

Listen up. I wanted to jump in here and share some actual info for anyone facing this same issue. Most forums and news sites just recycle the same copy-pasted nonsense, and frankly, it's useless.

First off, most doctors don't actually know much about this specific situation. They just tell you what you'll find on a Google search for a ruptured eardrum. One specialist didn't even bother to look at my rupture. Another doctor told me I could go swimming, but maybe shouldn't blow my nose. 😁, then there was one who claimed it would heal on its own—and she was actually right. Meanwhile, I had a specialist insisting I prep for surgery because he thought there was zero chance of it healing naturally since the rupture was 4 mm.

So, three months ago, I ruptured my eardrum. It was from an impact, which matters because there's a much higher chance it heals on its own that way. This was actually the second time it happened to me.

SYMPTOMS: I couldn't hear low tones or high ones. My ear felt completely clogged, and I couldn't even hear my own voice when I spoke—that was the scariest part.
HOW TO CHECK FOR A RUPTURE: You can press your hand against your ear; if you don't feel any air pressure, it’s likely ruptured. Same thing with a glass pressed to your ear—no pressure means you're probably in trouble. You could also press your ear against a mattress and tap the mattress; if you don't feel the vibrations, it means your eardrum isn't vibrating, likely because air is passing through the rupture.
HEALING PHASES:
- For the first month, nothing really happened. No hearing improvement at all. One weird thing is you won't feel any pressure changes in that ear; for instance, if you go up a mountain, you won't feel anything. 🙂
- In the second month, I started feeling some fluttering in my ear and occasional pain. That’s actually a good sign, meaning the eardrum is trying to heal. Sound quality was still just as bad.
- Toward the end of the second month, I heard some popping or clicking sounds in my ear. Not sure why—maybe fluid or something else. Pain was still hitting me occasionally, but then one day, everything cleared up. I could suddenly hear low tones again and felt that normal ear pressure return. I went for a checkup, and the doctor said it healed up perfectly.

Protection:
Look, you can't let water get in your ear. It needs to stay dry and ventilated. Don't go digging around in there trying to clean it—I don't know the medical reasoning behind it, but I'm staying away from it. Most doctors can't even give me a straight answer on whether you should be cleaning them or not, so I’d rather just leave it alone.
When I was recovering, I made sure to protect my ears with cotton balls while showering, and I swam like a nervous amateur who's terrified of ruining their hair. 😁
Pro tip: when you're washing your hair, plug your ears with cotton and tilt your head down so you don't end up with water trapped inside.

As for loud music and noise? Not a single doctor or specialist could give me a straight answer on whether I should avoid it or not. So, honestly, I have no clue.

Current status: My hearing has improved, but honestly, it’s still not quite back to where it used to be since everything sounds muffled. My audiometry tests came back fine and the results look good, but I’ve got this constant ringing in both ears now. It started about a week after my eardrum ruptured, so I can't tell if they're linked or not. When I asked my doctor, she didn't have a clue and frankly, she couldn't have cared less.

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Most doctors treat this like it's no big deal, and most of them don't know the first thing about it. If you decide to see a specialist privately, watch out—I ran into one who was completely clueless.

Be careful when you yawn, don't blow your nose too hard, and just have plenty of patience and luck.

For supplements, I’ve been taking ABC, some vitamins and minerals, and immune support tablets.

As far as I can tell, my hearing is still pretty good, but I’m constantly dealing with this crackling sound—kind of like the noise you get when you’re crinkling aluminum foil or snapping a pill blister pack. It happens whenever I yawn, hiccup, or even just burp😁, basically anytime there's a shift in pressure in my middle ear. At first, I was convinced my Eustachian tube was just blocked, which would explain the discomfort and that constant ringing in my ears, but like I mentioned in my other post, the doctor didn't say anything about a rupture. To be honest, he couldn't really answer any of my actual questions either—nothing about next steps, treatment options, what caused this in the first place, or if I should be avoiding loud music or certain sounds... He just handed me a referral to an ENT specialist and called it a day.

Hold on, if you haven't cleaned your ears in two months, what did it actually look like?😕
Personally, if I don't clear them out for a few days, I start growing a "tail."😁

I had a bit of an experience today, so I was wondering if anyone might have some insight or advice regarding what happened...
Basically, my nose is running and I’ve been blowing it quite hard. At one point, I heard this strange sound in my right ear—almost like a "pop" or as if air just forced its way through. Honestly, it gave me a bit of a scare because I started worrying if I actually ruptured my eardrum. Does anyone know if that kind of pressure could actually cause that?? 🤷

thanks

I honestly don't think you ruptured your eardrum, so please don't worry too much. It sounds more like air just moved through your Eustachian tube—you know, that little passage connecting your nose to your ear. I remember an ENT specialist once told me that pinching my nose and blowing gently could help clear things out. I can't quite recall what the specific issue was back then (it was probably twenty years ago when I was still in elementary school), but I think it was just a clogged ear. The only difference is, my nose wasn't running at the time. If your ear feels blocked because of wax buildup, though, you really should see a doctor to get it flushed out, or maybe try using some Debrox drops and letting the water from the shower help out. If that doesn't do the trick, you definitely need to head to the clinic to have them irrigate it with some warm water.

Thanks. I just tried plugging my nose and blowing again, and I can still hear that same weird sound, specifically in my right ear. I think I’ll try using those drops we talked about and see if that stops the popping sensation...

My little one is four years old and just had ear tubes put in, so we’re currently on the hunt for some custom earplugs. Our pediatrician suggested that getting them custom-molded would be much better for him, but I am having absolutely no luck finding where to actually get them made! Has anyone here navigated this before? I saw a post from someone else who mentioned they had custom ones made, but they didn't specify which provider or clinic they used.
Any help or advice would be so appreciated!

Hi everyone,
It looks like I’m heading in for ear surgery—turns out a perforated eardrum and chronic inflammation aren't things you can just ignore indefinitely.
I was wondering if anyone here has gone through ear surgery before? If so, I’d love to hear about your experience—specifically regarding the recovery process, how long you were stuck in the hospital, what the pain levels were actually like, and any other details that might be useful.
Thanks in advance for the help. Cheers.😕

Greetings, everyone...

@Karen Peterson9; how did your procedure go? Was everything alright? What are the "results" looking like—any scarring or lingering pain?

To the rest of you, does anyone have more recent experience with this? I’m dealing with the exact same issue... specifically a perforated eardrum (lower back area). Given where the perforation is located, how likely is it to heal on its own? I'm not sure if the location alone dictates whether spontaneous healing is possible or if surgery becomes an absolute necessity...
What has been your experience with hospitals in New York City? It looks like there’s a recommendation floating around for Mount Sinai..

So, I’m right there with you all. 😢
I am also a proud owner of a perforated eardrum. A doctor over at Mayo Clinic sent me off to the Vineyard, and now I’m just sitting here waiting for my specialist appointment.
To be honest, it’s impossible to say for certain what caused the perforation. Personally, I’m inclined to believe it was caused by the radiation therapy from my brain tumor treatment, which was followed by a gradual loss of hearing.
The hole is in my left eardrum. God knows how many people have struggled trying to clean out that ear; the cerumen was practically like chewing gum. Right toward the end of the cleaning process, they actually sent me off to schedule a CT scan because they spotted something suspicious. By then, the ear was almost clear (though they told me they couldn't get it any cleaner because my auditory canals are incredibly narrow), and that's when they confirmed the perforation.
They also gave me the standard warning to make sure no water gets inside the ear.
And whenever I blow my nose, there's this hissing sound.
Reading through everyone's experiences here, nobody ever mentioned anything about avoiding drafts or wind.
My sense of balance was already shot from the tumor treatments, and now, thanks to this, things regarding my equilibrium are even worse. 😢
My exam isn't for another three weeks.

rustylynx19 said:Greetings, everyone...

@Karen Peterson9; how did your procedure go? Was everything alright? What are the "results" looking like—any scarring or lingering pain?

To the rest of you, does anyone have more recent experience with this? I’m dealing with the exact same issue... specifically a perforated eardrum (lower back area). Given where the perforation is located, how likely is it to heal on its own? I'm not sure if the location alone dictates whether spontaneous healing is possible or if surgery becomes an absolute necessity...
What has been your experience with hospitals in New York City? It looks like there’s a recommendation floating around for Mount Sinai..

The real question here—and we need to be blunt about it—is exactly how massive this thing is and just how much history it actually carries. Size and age aren't just details; they change the entire scope of the conversation.
Absolutely.

feralridge3 said:So, I’m right there with you all. 😢
I am also a proud owner of a perforated eardrum. A doctor over at Mayo Clinic sent me off to the Vineyard, and now I’m just sitting here waiting for my specialist appointment.
To be honest, it’s impossible to say for certain what caused the perforation. Personally, I’m inclined to believe it was caused by the radiation therapy from my brain tumor treatment, which was followed by a gradual loss of hearing.
The hole is in my left eardrum. God knows how many people have struggled trying to clean out that ear; the cerumen was practically like chewing gum. Right toward the end of the cleaning process, they actually sent me off to schedule a CT scan because they spotted something suspicious. By then, the ear was almost clear (though they told me they couldn't get it any cleaner because my auditory canals are incredibly narrow), and that's when they confirmed the perforation.
They also gave me the standard warning to make sure no water gets inside the ear.
And whenever I blow my nose, there's this hissing sound.
Reading through everyone's experiences here, nobody ever mentioned anything about avoiding drafts or wind.
My sense of balance was already shot from the tumor treatments, and now, thanks to this, things regarding my equilibrium are even worse. 😢
My exam isn't for another three weeks.

Radiation isn't actually linked to that, though your hearing could certainly be damaged by it. An eardrum rupture usually happens due to physical trauma (less likely) or a middle ear infection (much more common), where pressure builds up and forces its way out, causing the perforation.

Jonathan Johnson4 said:Radiation isn't actually linked to that, though your hearing could certainly be damaged by it. An eardrum rupture usually happens due to physical trauma (less likely) or a middle ear infection (much more common), where pressure builds up and forces its way out, causing the perforation.

Two different specialists have already confirmed that my hearing loss was caused by brain radiation. 😉
I dealt with infections in both ears earlier this year, and the ENT surgeon told me they couldn't definitively say whether the perforation was triggered by those infections or by the radiation treatment itself.🤷

What does a TA, TG, and ENG workup actually look like?
An ENT surgeon is sending me in for these tests to figure out if my mild dizziness, occasional bouts of nausea, and some shaky balance are leftovers from treating a brain tumor, or if they're stemming from a small perforation that turned into a much larger hole 😲 after my ear was (almost) completely cleared out.

The logic is this: if the issues turn out to be neurological, they won't touch the ear at all; I'd just have to live with the hole as it is. 🙄
However, if the cause of everything I'm feeling is indeed that perforation, then it’s back on the operating table. 😲
My specific headache is that my ear canal is narrow and curved, so they'll likely need to dilate it. Honestly, just the thought of that dilation makes my skin crawl. 😲

Hey there! So, last week I caught a nasty little cold—the kind that actually had me sneezing my head off. To make matters worse, by that same evening, I had this intense pain in my left ear, and it even started leaking a bit... I think it might have been blood. My doctor gave my ear a quick look and diagnosed it as a middle ear infection, then told me to just rest up and prescribed some Augmentin.
Well, I’ve pretty much finished the course of meds after almost a week, and thankfully, the pain is gone—well, except for maybe a tiny twinge when I yawn, probably just from the pressure changes? But the thing is, I can still hear this constant ringing in my ear, and it feels totally clogged up. Plus, certain sounds trigger this weird whistling noise in the background of that ear. Is that actually normal after something like this? I have a follow-up appointment scheduled in a few days, so I'll have the doctor check if everything is back to normal.

Here is another issue regarding a perforated eardrum 🙂. My perforation is actually fifteen years old; I got it from a blow to my left ear, and right after that impact, my hearing dropped. I wanted to go diving so badly, but I couldn't because of it. To be honest, I avoided seeing a doctor for years because I have this deep-seated anxiety whenever I have to deal with medical professionals. Since then, I've dealt with frequent ear infections and pain. Eventually, you just have to face reality, so a few days ago, I finally saw a specialist. He performed an audiogram and examined my ear; apparently, there is a significant hole, and my hearing loss is around 15 decibels. I am not entirely sure if that qualifies as a major loss. He recommended surgery, and I agreed, so I went to the hospital to schedule a date. What gave me pause was when the doctor mentioned—strictly because the law requires him to disclose it—that there is a less than 1% risk of total hearing loss in that ear during the procedure. He emphasized how rare that is, but still. I am wondering if anyone else has heard similar things. The surgery would be done under general anesthesia. The main reason I want to go through with this myoplasty is that the doctor told me I’d essentially have a "new" ear, allowing me to dive again and experience true stereo sound 🙂. If anyone has any insight or advice, I would appreciate it. Thanks