How to treat a ruptured eardrum?

The ear is a complex whole consisting of multiple parts, the most core part of which is the eardrum, which is the entrance receiving device for sound to enter the brain. It has a very strong ability to receive and process sound. Therefore, the eardrum is the part of the ear that needs to be protected. People often encounter some unexpected situations in life. For example, how to deal with a ruptured eardrum?

How to treat a ruptured eardrum

1. After suffering trauma, you should go to the hospital in time for an electronic otoscope examination and, if necessary, an ear endoscope examination to clarify the nature of the tympanic membrane injury.

2. Use 75% alcohol to gently wipe the external auditory canal several times, keep it dry, and leave a cotton ball in place. Do not drop anti-inflammatory drugs into the ear to prevent endogenous bacteria in the external auditory canal from entering the middle ear and causing secondary infection. If there is no middle ear infection, traumatic rupture of the eardrum can heal on its own in about a month, and hearing will return to normal.

3. If the tympanic membrane perforation has healed but conductive hearing loss still exists, follow up for 2-3 months and go to the "Clinical Hearing Center" for relevant audiological examinations. If hearing does not improve, surgery may be considered.

4. As long as there is no secondary infection and the area of ​​the hole is not too large, the tympanic membrane perforation caused by trauma will usually heal on its own in about a month and no additional treatment is required.

5. A ruptured eardrum can be repaired using the fascia of the temporal muscle next to the ear, with a success rate of over 90%. This myringoplasty or tympanoplasty can eliminate ear leakage and improve hearing.

6. The anesthesia method for tympanic membrane perforation repair surgery can be local anesthesia or general anesthesia, depending on the patient's condition. This type of surgery is a more sophisticated microsurgical method. If the tympanic membrane perforation is combined with cholesteatoma, the treatment is much more complicated than simple tympanic membrane perforation repair. Sometimes mastoid surgery or ossicular chain reconstruction surgery is required.