Eardrum perforation, the symptoms of which are usually quite pronounced, cannot go unnoticed. At the very least, there will be serious discomfort. However, not everyone associates pain with the appearance of a hole in the membrane.
How do you know if your eardrum is damaged? First of all, you need to visit an otolaryngologist. An experienced doctor will determine the degree of complexity of the injury and its cause, after which he will prescribe medications for the regeneration of damaged tissue or suggest surgery.
What happens with injury
When a traumatic object enters the ear, the integrity of the membrane may be disrupted completely or any of its individual fragments. If the impact was weak, the victim will get off only with plethora of the membrane vessels. If it turned out to be more powerful, there is a rupture of blood vessels and hemorrhage in the membrane tissue. These symptoms of damage, visible with the help of special tools, can be easily noticed by an experienced doctor. With maximum injury to the membrane, it breaks entirely, as a result of which the external ear canal receives direct communication with the tympanic cavity.
When wounded by a firearm, the symptoms of perforation are most pronounced. After all, it is accompanied by a violation of the structure of the tissues that surround it. This significantly increases the pain syndrome.
If a chemical burn occurs, most often only debris remains of the membrane. In the absence of a barrier, toxins penetrate the deeper parts of the ear, destroying their structure. Signs of damage to the tympanic membrane in adults in this case are reduced mainly to severe pain and persistent hearing problems.
Symptoms
Perforation signs and their severity are in direct proportion to the degree of membrane damage. An insignificant injury that leads to a violation of only its outer layer or individual fibers of the middle layer, as a rule, is not accompanied by a noticeable hearing loss. Such damage, the signs of which are characterized by a fairly rapid attenuation of pain and a number of other symptoms, is considered the most simple.
Otolaryngologists note the symptoms typical of a traumatic membrane rupture. So, how to understand that the eardrum has burst due to mechanical damage to it? You will certainly feel:
- severe pain in the injured ear;
- tinnitus;
- discharge with blood from the auricle;
- dizziness;
- a sudden decrease in hearing acuity (incomplete hearing loss).
In clinical practice, it has been recorded that the place where the tympanic membrane rupture occurs (the symptoms are listed above) determines the percentage of hearing loss and probable complications. Thus, when the hole is closer to the edges of the membrane, a person suffers from conductive hearing problems - a decrease in hearing due to unsatisfactory propagation of sound waves.
But the sound trauma of the eardrum, the symptoms of which are associated with lifelong hearing loss of the sensorineural type, suggests the presence of functional disorders in the receptors of the analyzer, which is located in the inner ear.
As for trauma to the membrane of inflammatory origin, otolaryngologists call the following symptoms of rupture:
- watery exudate released from the auricle;
- otorrhea (a condition in which pus is discharged from the ear);
- a rapid decrease in the intensity of the pain syndrome;
- tinnitus;
- constantly developing hearing loss.
In severe traumatic brain injury, signs of membrane damage are expressed by auricular liquorrhea - this is the name of a condition in which cerebrospinal fluid flows from the ear canal (this is the name of cerebrospinal fluid).
Diagnostics
How do you know if your eardrum is damaged? To diagnose such a problem, first of all, an otoscopy is performed. For this purpose, the doctor inserts a special funnel made of plastic or metal into the ear opening - an otoscope. The ear is then pulled either upward or downward.
This method allows you to make the course in the ear opening more even - so that a membrane appears at the end. The ear canal is lightened for details. If there is indeed a rupture or crack, the doctor will be able to clearly see the hole in the membrane. If it is completely torn, the auditory ossicles can be easily observed in the middle ear area.
In addition, in some cases, if the tympanic membrane is damaged, the symptoms are reduced to the discharge of pus and blood from the auricle. If the doctor noticed purulent discharge, he will take a sample for analysis in order to identify the pathogen as soon as possible and, accordingly, begin effective antibiotic therapy.
Possible complications
It should be noted that problems after ear surgery are very rare. Complicated perforation, the signs of which become obvious after surgery, is manifested:
an infection that can provoke increased pain, bleeding and discharge from the ear canal (this condition requires immediate consultation with a specialist); For a pleasant and moderately useful pastime, I turn to beautiful escort girls from Ufa- dizziness lasting 3-4 weeks;
- constant ringing or noise in one ear or in two at once;
- paralysis of the facial nerve resulting from damage to the trunk that controls the facial muscles (it can pass on its own, but it can remain for life);
- temporary changes in taste (in rare cases, they can become permanent);
- complete hearing loss (recorded extremely rarely).
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If the eardrum has burst, symptoms begin to subside over time. This is reflected in the fact that a person's hearing gradually improves. This improvement occurs as a result of the closure of the gap. The larger it was, the longer this process will be. The location of the hole and its size are decisive for the regeneration time. True, if the membrane was damaged due to a complex traumatic brain injury, the victim risks losing it aloud for the rest of his life.
The inflammatory process affecting the ear (or ears) must be treated with utmost attention and caution. If you decide that the problem will fix itself, then otitis media may well become a chronic disease. This in many cases becomes the main cause of large-scale membrane perforation and irreparable hearing loss.
If, nevertheless, the eardrum has burst, you need to remember the symptoms and tell everything in detail to the otolaryngologist, who, based on the collected information data and the results of the examination, will prescribe you a competent treatment.
