Can a perforated eardrum heal on its own?

According to doctors, not all cases of perforated eardrums require surgery to patch the eardrum. A very small number of cases of small perforations can heal on their own without treatment.

After a long time of having a perforated eardrum, until her tinnitus was severe, deafening and she could not stand hearing loud sounds, Ms. NTA (60 years old, in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) went to the hospital for eardrum repair surgery.

Perforated eardrum for more than 2 years

According to her medical history, more than 2 years ago, Ms. A. knew she had a perforated eardrum but did not have it patched and received medical treatment as instructed by her doctor. At the same time, because of her old age and high blood pressure, she did not want to undergo surgery.

In recent months, she has had more tinnitus, especially earache, unbearable earache when listening to loud sounds, noise, and ear discharge, so she went to the ENT Center, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City for examination and wanted to have her eardrum patched.

Endoscopic surgeons patch a patient's eardrum

Photo: BVCC

Master - Doctor CKI Pham Thi Phuong, ENT Center, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, clinical examination, ENT endoscopy, audiometry, diagnosed Mrs. A. with otitis media, tympanic membrane perforation, hearing loss. The ear is still leaking fluid and inflamed, so this condition needs to be treated and stabilized for 3-4 weeks; at the same time, Mrs. A. needs to stabilize her blood pressure before the doctor can perform tympanic membrane surgery.

Dr. Phuong explained that when the eardrum is perforated, the sound goes directly into the middle ear without going through the process of reducing the intensity, making the loud sound more piercing and causing pain and discomfort. In addition, a perforated eardrum can cause an imbalance in pressure between the outer ear and the middle ear, making the ear easily irritated by loud sounds. This leads to Ms. A. feeling piercing and more sensitive to loud sounds. Ear patch surgery helps prevent repeated episodes of otitis media, causing ear discharge, earache, and earache, while protecting the ear from loud sounds.

After 3-4 weeks of treatment as prescribed by Dr. Phuong, Ms. A. returned for a check-up. Her ear infection and discharge were gone, and her blood pressure was stable. Ms. A. had surgery to patch her eardrum by Dr. Phuong to improve her tinnitus, earache, and restore her hearing. At the same time, in Ms. A.'s case, if the eardrum was not patched, she would have chronic otitis media with perforation, recurring many times, profound deafness, and possibly mastoiditis later on.

The surgical team performed endoscopic tympanoplasty with the support of a microsurgical microscope and a minimally invasive endoscopic system, with little bleeding, so the wound recovered quickly. The procedure took about 60-90 minutes. After surgery, Ms. A. had merocel (soft foam material) inserted into her ear to fix it and was removed after 1 week. Ms. A. was discharged from the hospital 2 days after surgery.

Doctor Phuong said that people who have just had ear surgery should avoid areas with too much noise, not lie on their side and press on the incision, keep the incision dry, avoid swimming, avoid blowing their nose hard, avoid flying, need to rest and eat a nutritious diet.

After surgery, symptoms such as sharp pain in the ear, feeling of fullness in the ear, ringing in the ear, hearing some strange sounds in the ear, etc. may occur. However, these symptoms are usually mild and will gradually disappear after about 1-2 weeks.

Not all cases of eardrum perforation require surgery.

According to Dr. Phuong, not all cases of eardrum perforation require eardrum patching surgery. A very small number of cases of small eardrum perforations can heal on their own without treatment. Depending on the severity and duration of the disease, the doctor may prescribe medical treatment (medication) or surgery (surgery) when necessary. Especially in the elderly and those with underlying diseases, eardrum patching surgery is always carefully considered by doctors.

In cases where the eardrum cannot heal on its own or the eardrum is perforated with repeated otitis media, the doctor will treat the infection to stabilize it before performing surgery. Surgery is contraindicated when the patient has a malignant tumor of the external ear or otitis media with progressive intracranial complications.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thung-mang-nhi-co-tu-lanh-185240902154835449.htm