How to tell if the eardrum is ruptured

There are many things that we cannot see with our naked eyes. With the development of science and technology and the improvement of medical level, more and more instruments can help us examine more clearly and in detail. For example, our eardrum. We only feel the discomfort in our ears, but we can't see it at all. Here are some tips on how to tell if your eardrum is ruptured.

To determine whether the eardrum is perforated, you need to go to the hospital for targeted examinations to confirm the diagnosis. It is impossible to determine it yourself. In clinical practice, an endoscope or otoscope is often used to observe whether there is a perforation on the tympanic membrane. An acoustic impedance meter can also be used for inspection to assist in judgment. The surface of a broken tympanic membrane cannot induce an acoustic impedance wave, while a normal tympanic membrane surface may have an A-type, B-type, or C-type curve. If a child experiences ear pain, pus, blood or other fluid exudation from the ear canal after an injury, be alert to whether the eardrum has been perforated and go to the hospital for examination and diagnosis in time.

The tympanic membrane refers to the eardrum, which is like a drumhead. It will only make a sound when it is struck when the drumhead is intact. When the eardrum ruptures, the first thing that will be affected is hearing, but the symptoms of poor hearing are different for each person. Some patients may feel stuffy in their ears, while others may feel swollen. If the eardrum ruptures acutely, there will be pain. If the eardrum has been ruptured for a long time, and the Eustachian tube is blocked and infected due to dirt or a cold, some purulent secretions will flow out of the ear.

Traumatic rupture of the eardrum occurs when the ear is subjected to violent vibrations from the outside air (firecrackers, explosions), which cause blast waves and airflow impacts that can quickly spread to the external auditory canal and rupture the eardrum.

Overview

Injury of tympanic membrane is often caused by direct or indirect external force. The eardrum is a shiny, translucent membranous tissue. It is located at the innermost end of the external auditory canal, that is, between the external auditory canals. It is very similar to the diaphragm in a microphone. The upper part of the eardrum is called the flaccid part, and the middle and lower parts are the tense part. Tympanic membrane trauma often occurs in the tense part. Sound waves reach the eardrum and cause it to vibrate. In fact, the eardrum is composed of a chain of auditory ossicles connected as a whole, which enables it to efficiently transmit sound, converting the external air with large amplitude and low sound pressure into lymph waves with small amplitude and high sound pressure. If there is a violent vibration of the outside air (firecrackers, explosions), the blast wave and air flow impact will be quickly transmitted to the external auditory canal and rupture the eardrum. After rupture, there is sudden ear pain, immediate hearing loss accompanied by tinnitus, a small amount of bleeding in the external auditory canal, and a feeling of stuffiness in the ear. Simple tympanic membrane rupture causes mild hearing loss. In addition to causing rupture of the eardrum, pressure injuries can also cause damage to the inner ear due to the strong movement of the stapes, resulting in dizziness, nausea, and mixed deafness.