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Ruptured eardrum - Symptom

Alternative Names

Tympanic membrane perforation; Eardrum - ruptured or perforated; Perforated eardrum

Symptoms:

Drainage from the ear (drainage may be clear, pus, or bloody)
Ear noise/buzzing
Earache or ear discomfort
- May be severe and increasing
- There may be a sudden decrease in ear pain followed by ear drainage
Facial weakness or dizziness (in more severe cases)
Hearing loss in the affected ear (hearing loss may not be complete)

Signs and tests:

The doctor will look in your ear with an instrument called an otoscope. If the eardrum is perforated, the doctor will see an opening in it, and may even see the bones of the middle ear.

Sometimes it is hard for the doctor to see the eardrum because of drainage (pus)from the ear.

Audiology testing can measure the extent of hearing loss.

Ear anatomy

Medical findings based on ear anatomy

Mastoiditis - side view of head

Eardrum repair - series

Reviewed last on: 4/13/2009
Alan Lipkin, MD, Otolaryngologist, Private Practice, Denver, Colorado. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Bauer CA, Jenkins HA. Otologic Symptoms and Syndromes. In: Cummings CW, Flint PW, Haughey BH, Robbins KT, Thomas JR, eds. Otolaryngology: Head & Neck Surgery. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Mosby Elsevier; 2005: chap 126.

Ramakrishnan K, Sparks RA, Berryhill WE. Diagnosis and treatment of otitis media. Am Fam Physician. 2007; 76(11):1650-8.

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