Ruptured ear-drum?

[swimmermom3]

DS (17) was at swim practice today, dove down to nine foot level to retrieve something and was kneed in the ear. He has had some ringing and increasing pressure since then. I made the mistake of giving him swimmer ear drops thinking there was some water in his ear. There is now a pinkish discharge and intense pain. Dh and ds are on their way to urgent care. Now I am thinking ruptured ear drum. He is terrified that this will disqualify him from service in the Coast Guard. He had trouble with his ears when he was little. Tubes eliminated the problem.

 

Any words of advice or experience. I should have thought a little more about those ear drops. Bad plan, I suspect.

[staceyobu]

i don't know anything about the coast guard, but I wouldn't think swimmer's ear drops would cause an eardrum to rupture... I thought it was usually pressure behind the eardrum.

[Mommyof4ks]

I don't know about the Coast Gaurd either, but I agree drops did not cause that, the trauma did. My ds had a ruptured ear drum at 3, and he can hear just fine now. He was not allowed to get the ear wet for a couple of weeks until it healed, and I remember several kinds of drops to keep out infection, but no lasting effects came of the ruptured drum. Good luck, and I hope it does not affect his Coast Gaurd dreams.

[AndyJoy]

I don't know about the Coast Gaurd either, but I agree drops did not cause that, the trauma did. My ds had a ruptured ear drum at 3, and he can hear just fine now. He was not allowed to get the ear wet for a couple of weeks until it healed, and I remember several kinds of drops to keep out infection, but no lasting effects came of the ruptured drum. Good luck, and I hope it does not affect his Coast Gaurd dreams.

 

 

I ruptured mine at 14 (while coming down the mountain after a skiing trip) and had no lasting effects either. I was playing on a basketball team at the time and was told to keep a cotton ball in my ear. It's a lot harder than you realize to play with only one ear when you're used to having two!

[Laura Corin]

I ruptured one of mine about fifteen years ago (due to ear infection/plane flight). No after effects at all.

 

Laura

[Pippen]

Veteran of eight eardrum ruptures here.

 

Unless he had a big time middle ear infection brewing beforehand, the ringing and pain is likely due to the trauma of being kneed in the ear.I don't think eardrops would cause the rupture but they may be contributing to any discharge.

 

I don't know about the Coast Guard but I would make sure that the doctor documents that an injury was involved. Don't take it for granted that he/she wrote it on the records--get a copy and double check yourself.

[Donna]

My dd has had two ear drum ruptures in the same ear due to ear infections (at 1yo and 5yo...the only two ear infections she ever had and both while on antibiotics btw...the 2nd because the doctor did not listen to me when I told her that particular antibiotic had no effect on dd's ear infections). She was given ear drops and stronger antibiotics. She has no after effects. Both healed and she has excellent hearing in both ears.

[delaney]

My daughter has ruptured hers several times with ear infections. Literally no sign of anything and bam! I did as a kid too and I have ridiculously good hearing. I wouldn't worry about it.

[zimom]

Most ruptures will heal by themselves without any problem. The doctor should give him antibiotic drops. I'm sure your drops did hurt physically but did not cause any long term damage with one use.

 

Find an audiologist to make him an 'in house' custom swim mold due to his swimming to use while it heals.

 

Audiologist in my prior life :)

[arghmatey]

If there's still pain, then it has not yet ruptured. When it ruptures, the pain ceases.

 

I think I read they usually heal on their own. Mine did!

 

The buildup of pain that led to my eardrum rupture was the worst pain of my life, and I've given birth three times so far.

[KatieJ]

My oldest son ruptured his eardrum diving off a pontoon boat. He had had tubes put in several times when he was a toddler and i read that can cause ruptures later on. He had pain for the rest of that day and was uncomfortable for several more days. It did heal. He was not living at home, not covered under our insurance and had none of his own, so he did not see a Dr.

[Starr]

Any news?

[mommymilkies]

I ruptured mine at the pool (trauma) at age12 or so. I had to have a tympanoplasty because it would not heal all the way. Then when pg with #5 all I did was duck my head under to show ds how to swim and it ruptured. No infection, no trauma, nothing. Ds said it was funny and scary to have to pull his 8 mo pg mother out of the pool (I was dizzy and could not see straight) from the 5' deep section. Not cool. I had to have another tympanoplasty. Make sure you have a checkup to see if it has healed in a month or two.

[swimmermom3]

Most ruptures will heal by themselves without any problem. The doctor should give him antibiotic drops. I'm sure your drops did hurt physically but did not cause any long term damage with one use.

 

Find an audiologist to make him an 'in house' custom swim mold due to his swimming to use while it heals.

 

Audiologist in my prior life :)

 

How quick could they make the earplug? Districts are on Friday. It hurts the team because they count on the varsity points, but since he had trouble with his ears when he was little, I also don't want to take any chances.

[swimmermom3]

Any news?

 

Thanks for asking. Urgent Care said there was so much fluid, they could not be sure. Hmm. Bloody discharge, tons of fluid, severe pain? I am not sure exactly what they weren't sure about it. And the best they had for pain was ibuprofen. We finally got a prescription, but that poor boy. He has a high pain threshold and it was tough to hold those tears in.

 

 

I ruptured mine at the pool (trauma) at age12 or so. I had to have a tympanoplasty because it would not heal all the way. Then when pg with #5 all I did was duck my head under to show ds how to swim and it ruptured. No infection, no trauma, nothing. Ds said it was funny and scary to have to pull his 8 mo pg mother out of the pool (I was dizzy and could not see straight) from the 5' deep section. Not cool. I had to have another tympanoplasty. Make sure you have a checkup to see if it has healed in a month or two.

 

We are going to give it a few days and then go ahead and see his former ENT. Ds still can't hear much out of that side.

 

Does the tympanoplasty help with movement inside the ear?

[Pippen]

The first few days after a rupture my hearing was always impacted the most and then it gradually returned to normal.

 

Were they able to even see the site of rupture?

[Flowing Brook]

I ruptured my ear drum several times as a child. Now today I have a cholesteatoma. The dr. said it was from the rupture leaving a hole in my ear drum. The skin cells from my ear canal got trapped behind my ear drum and multiplied creating a tumor. Because of my experience I strongly recommend going back for a follow up and making sure the ear drum heals properly.

[zimom]

An in-house swim plug he can take home and use same day. Will pm you.

[zimom]

Pm sent. Please follow up with his ENT in two weeks to check the status of his eardrum. The main thing you need to do right now is keep the ear dry, antibiotic ear drops and pain meds as needed.

[mommymilkies]

I ruptured my ear drum several times as a child. Now today I have a cholesteatoma. The dr. said it was from the rupture leaving a hole in my ear drum. The skin cells from my ear canal got trapped behind my ear drum and multiplied creating a tumor. Because of my experience I strongly recommend going back for a follow up and making sure the ear drum heals properly.

 

That's what they worried about for me.

Thanks for asking. Urgent Care said there was so much fluid, they could not be sure. Hmm. Bloody discharge, tons of fluid, severe pain? I am not sure exactly what they weren't sure about it. And the best they had for pain was ibuprofen. We finally got a prescription, but that poor boy. He has a high pain threshold and it was tough to hold those tears in.

 

 

 

 

We are going to give it a few days and then go ahead and see his former ENT. Ds still can't hear much out of that side.

 

Does the tympanoplasty help with movement inside the ear?

 

What do you mean movement inside the ear? It usually just involves the ear drum. Incisions can be made inside the canal or outside the ear (mine-both times). My eardrums were patched and reformed from skin on the outside of my head/ear and it helped. It was absolutely horrific and nothing I would ever wish on my worst enemy, though. There are risks to the surgery, too. Facial nerve paralysis and taste nerve problems. I couldn't taste anything for months. At all. Now, if there is any pressure on my ear, everything tastes like bitter salty seawater. That was only after my second surgery, though. They didn't tell me before surgery. But MOST ruptures heal themselves. I would only worry about it in a few weeks to a month if it's not healing.

[swimmermom3]

Update:

 

I called our ENT on Friday and he saw ds within an hour. The ear drum is ruptured and infected, so ds is diligently applying his ear drops. The pain is gone, but hearing is still problematic. We return to the ENT's in two weeks to reassess, but the hole was 40% and it is unlikely it will heal on its own. The culprit was the water pressure on top of the blow, so we are probably on for surgery. It should not affect his ability to fly, which is good news for our son.

 

After our visit to "Dr. Bowtie," I was reminded of how grateful I am to those professionals who are truly top-notch.

 

Thank you all for your information and support. Ds did not swim per ENT's instructions. It could be done, but we all decided it wasn't worth the risk or the discomfort.

[mommymilkies]

Update:

 

I called our ENT on Friday and he saw ds within an hour. The ear drum is ruptured and infected, so ds is diligently applying his ear drops. The pain is gone, but hearing is still problematic. We return to the ENT's in two weeks to reassess, but the hole was 40% and it is unlikely it will heal on its own. The culprit was the water pressure on top of the blow, so we are probably on for surgery. It should not affect his ability to fly, which is good news for our son.

 

After our visit to "Dr. Bowtie," I was reminded of how grateful I am to those professionals who are truly top-notch.

 

Thank you all for your information and support. Ds did not swim per ENT's instructions. It could be done, but we all decided it wasn't worth the risk or the discomfort.

The first time I flew post-surgery, it was painful, so he might want to take some ibuprofen before hand, just in case. I hope it heals and gets fixed quickly!