Related Subjects:
|Assessing Hearing Loss
|Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)
|Cholesteatoma
|Epistaxis (Nosebleeds)
|Acute Mastoiditis
|Nasal polyps
|Acute Sinusitis
|Sudden Sensorineural Hearing loss (SNHL)
|Causes of Vertigo
|Tympanic (Eardrum) membrane perforation
🦻 A tympanic membrane perforation (eardrum rupture) is a tear or hole in the thin tissue separating the ear canal from the middle ear. It can cause hearing loss, discomfort, and increased infection risk. Causes include infections, trauma, and sudden pressure changes.
📖 About
- A perforated eardrum often heals spontaneously, but keep the ear dry 🚱 to prevent infection.
⚠️ Causes
- Infections:
- Acute Otitis Media: Pressure from pus buildup may rupture the membrane.
- Chronic Otitis Media: Long-standing infections weaken the eardrum.
- Trauma:
- Barotrauma: Sudden pressure changes (✈️ air travel, 🤿 diving).
- Direct Injury: Inserting cotton buds, hairpins, or foreign objects.
- Acoustic Trauma: Explosions 💥 or gunshots.
- Other: Severe head trauma or foreign bodies inserted into the canal.
🩺 Clinical Features
- Hearing loss: Degree depends on size/location of perforation.
- Otalgia: Sudden, sharp pain (especially if rupture follows infection/trauma).
- Otorrhea: Discharge – clear, bloody, or purulent.
- Tinnitus: Ringing or buzzing in the ear.
- Vertigo: If inner ear is affected.
- Fullness: Pressure or blocked sensation in the ear.
🔎 Investigations
- Otoscopy: Direct visualisation of a hole or tear.
- Tympanometry: Abnormal movement of the drum.
- Audiometry: Assess hearing loss.
- Imaging (CT): Consider in trauma or suspected cholesteatoma.
🛠️ Management
- Conservative: Most heal within weeks. Keep dry, no ear poking!
- Antibiotics: Topical or oral if infected.
- Myringoplasty (patch): Encourages healing in non-healing perforations.
- Tympanoplasty (surgery): For persistent perforations or significant hearing loss.
- Preventive measures: Waterproof dressings/earplugs for bathing & swimming.
📊 Prognosis
- Most small perforations heal spontaneously 👍.
- Larger or chronically infected perforations may require surgery.
- Complications: persistent hearing loss, chronic otitis media, cholesteatoma.
