Injury after ear cleaning accident at home
On July 17, a representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital said that recently, doctors there received and treated a case of severe ear trauma.
The patient is Ms. AH (44 years old, living in Tay Ninh province), admitted to the hospital with severe dizziness. Medical history shows that 3 days before admission, the patient was sitting and cleaning her ear when a child in the house walked by and bumped into her.
After the incident, the patient suffered from ear bleeding, dizziness, nausea and vomiting. The patient went to the local medical center for examination, with a diagnosis of vestibular disorder and left atrial perforation due to trauma. Because her condition did not improve, the woman continued to go to the ENT Hospital of Ho Chi Minh City for help.
CT scan shows patient with broken ear bone (Photo: Hospital).
Through examination, based on symptoms, audiogram, and endoscopy, doctors noted that the patient's ear canal had old blood clots, the eardrum had a small amount of blood clots, and hearing loss was moderately severe.
CT scans confirmed the woman had a temporal bone fracture in the left eardrum.
The patient was diagnosed with left labyrinthitis, left stapes displacement into the vestibule, left incus-stapes chain interruption after ear trauma and underwent the necessary tests for surgery.
The medical team opened the tympanic cavity to explore the left stapes, and reshaped the ossicular chain with a guide rod to reconstruct the sound transmission system. After surgery, the patient continued to receive medical treatment, and the dizziness has improved.
Specialist Doctor 2 Duong Thanh Hong, Head of the Department of Otolaryngology - Neurology, said that ear trauma can cause symptoms such as earache, hearing loss, dizziness, loss of balance, nausea, and ear bleeding.
Endoscopic image of a patient injured while cleaning his ear (Photo: Hospital).
In addition, the patient may experience inner ear damage. This is the most serious damage, causing irreversible hearing loss, severe dizziness, and loss of balance. If not treated promptly, the patient may develop dangerous complications such as labyrinthitis and meningitis.
Doctor reveals the truth about earwax
Specialist Doctor 2 Nguyen Thanh Vinh, Deputy Director of the ENT Hospital of Ho Chi Minh City, shared that in the first 6 months of the year, there were 11 cases of ear injuries due to ear picking in this area for treatment, with injuries such as temporal bone fracture, eardrum perforation, ossicular chain disruption, vestibular system damage...
These injuries can leave sequelae including tinnitus, hearing loss, dizziness... if not treated promptly.
According to Dr. Vinh, earwax is not a disease, does not cause ear infections, and can prevent bacteria from entering the ear. The ear canal does not go straight from the outside to the eardrum, but is curved. By chewing, sleeping on one side, etc., earwax can be pushed out naturally.
If people keep inserting sharp objects straight into the ear canal to remove earwax, they may touch the skin and mucous membranes in the ear canal, causing trauma to the external ear canal. The trauma creates favorable conditions for bacteria to grow, causing otitis media.
When there is an ear injury, people need to immediately go to a medical facility with an ENT specialist for early examination and treatment (Photo: Hospital).
In addition, if these sharp instruments penetrate the eardrum, they will reduce hearing; cause injury to the ossicular chain - the sound conduction system affecting hearing ability. If they penetrate further into the cochlea - the real human hearing organ - there is a risk of causing permanent deafness.
In addition, there is also the internal carotid artery in the ear, if touched, it will cause a risk of blood vessel rupture and endanger life. In particular, deep in the ear there are nerves (especially the 7th cranial nerve), if damaged, it will cause facial paralysis. If the vestibular system is damaged, it will cause irreversible dizziness...
Doctors warn people to limit ear picking. When there is a lot of earwax accompanied by ear discomfort (such as bad smell, tinnitus, hearing loss, itching, ear pain...) or when there is an injury after ear picking, you should immediately go to a medical facility with an ENT specialist for timely examination and treatment.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/tphcm-ghi-nhan-hang-chuc-ca-chan-thuong-nang-vo-xuong-khi-ngoay-tai-20250717112038631.htm
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