As national leaders in ear care, we have proven expertise in every kind of ear injury and trauma. We fix the delicate structures in and around your ear and guide you through all aspects of your healing process.
What is ear trauma?
Ear trauma is any sudden event or accident that harms your ear. Ear trauma can cause many different types of ear injuries, ranging from mild to severe.
What are ear injuries?
An ear injury is damage to any part of your ear. Hurting nearby structures can also lead to injuries in your ear.
What parts of your ear can get hurt?
Your ear is made up of the outer ear, ear canal, eardrum, middle ear, and inner ear. The temporal bone (part of your skull) surrounds and protects your ear canal, eardrum, middle ear, and inner ear. You can hurt any of these structures, including skin, tissues, bones, and nerves.
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Understanding Ear Injuries and Trauma
Ear Damage Symptoms
Symptoms of ear injuries depend on the type of trauma that happened. Common signs of ear damage include:
- Bleeding on the outside or inside of your ear
- Blood pooling beneath the skin of your outer ear, making the area look puffy and darker in color
- Bruising, redness, or swelling
- Clear liquid dripping from your ear or nose
- Ear pain or earache
- Feeling like you have an object in your ear (or being able to see an object)
- Hearing loss
- Ringing or buzzing in your ear
You may also experience symptoms that seem unrelated to your ears, such as:
- Difficulty moving your face
- Dizziness and balance problems
- Fever
- Nausea or throwing up
Types of Ear Injuries
The type of ear injury depends on what kind of trauma happened, and where it damaged your ear. Some of the most common types of ear injuries include:
Ear cuts or wounds
Some kinds of ear trauma cause minor cuts, wounds, or deep cuts (lacerations). These injuries may happen to your outer ear or ear canal. Minor cuts usually heal on their own or with at-home first aid. You may need treatment if you have a more serious wound or laceration that:
- Causes hearing loss or severe pain
- Happened from an animal or human bite
- Has dirt or debris stuck inside
- Has ragged or separated edges
- Is deep or is longer than a half inch
- Occurred with a head trauma
- Shows signs of infection, such as redness, swelling, drainage, or a bad smell
Auricular hematoma
An auricular hematoma is a collection of blood beneath the skin on your outer ear. “Auricular” means relating to the ear, and “hematoma” means a pool of blood. This condition interferes with blood circulation in your ear. It causes the affected part of your ear to look purple and swollen. Without treatment, auricular hematoma can lead to long-term damage of the ear’s cartilage. It gives the ear a lumpy appearance, known as “cauliflower ear.”
Auricular deformity (misshapen ear)
An auricular deformity happens when an injury changes the shape of your outer ear. Trauma can cut or pull the skin and cartilage of your ear, which can be very painful. You can also develop a deformity from an untreated auricular hematoma.
Tympanic membrane perforation (eardrum rupture)
The tympanic membrane, also called your eardrum, is a very thin piece of skin that separates your ear canal from your middle ear. Tympanic membrane perforation, or eardrum rupture, happens when you get a hole in your eardrum.
Several kinds of trauma can cause a hole, including a foreign object going inside your ear or a rapid change in air or water pressure. This injury often heals on its own, but you may need treatment to fix it. Treatment can also manage complications of eardrum rupture, including otitis media (ear infection), cholesteatoma (a skin cyst), or conductive hearing loss.
Ossicular dislocation or fracture
Your middle ear has three small bones called ossicles. These bones line up in a certain way to help you hear.
Ear trauma can cause these bones to move out of their normal location (ossicular dislocation). Trauma can also break these bones (ossicular fracture).
These ear injuries usually happen from a blow to your head or an object going inside your ear. Ossicular dislocation and ossicular fracture cause hearing loss, but treatment can help.
Temporal bone fracture
A temporal bone fracture (break) happens from a blow to your head and can be a life-threatening injury. Since the temporal bone surrounds the inside of your ear, a fracture can damage several parts of your ear. The injury may cause:
- Blood buildup in the middle ear
- Eardrum rupture
- Fracture of the middle ear bones or inner ear structures
- Movement of the middle ear bones (ossicular dislocation)
You may also experience facial nerve paralysis (nerve damage that makes you unable to move your face). Your facial nerve, which allows you to move your face muscles, runs through your temporal bone. It may get cut or swell after head trauma.
In addition, temporal bone fracture can cause leaking of cerebrospinal fluid (thin, clear liquid surrounding your brain). Cerebrospinal fluid may drip from your ear or out of your nose after an injury. If left untreated, a cerebrospinal fluid leak can lead to dangerous infections, such as meningitis.
Acoustic trauma
Acoustic trauma happens when very loud sound harms the structures in your inner ear. Acoustic trauma leads to sensorineural hearing loss, or hearing loss caused by inner ear damage. It can also cause ringing in your ears (tinnitus). Very loud noises near your ear cause this type of injury, such as:
- A gunshot fired near your ear
- An explosion
- Long-term exposure to loud sounds
Risk factors for ear injuries
Risk factors are things that increase your risk for ear injuries. Anything that puts you in danger of head or ear trauma makes you more likely to get an ear injury. These risk factors include:
- Exposure to very loud noises
- Playing contact sports, such as football, wrestling, or boxing
- Putting objects inside your ears
Ear injuries and trauma happen accidentally. However, you can take precautions to avoid ear trauma, such as:
- Chewing gum, sucking on hard candy, or yawning while flying during takeoff and landing (if you usually feel pain or pressure on airplanes)
- Keeping objects and your fingers out of your ears, including cotton swabs (your ears naturally get rid of wax and clean themselves)
- Teaching your children to never put items inside their ears
- Using ear protection around loud noises, such as at concerts or construction sites
- Using protective helmets or headgear when playing contact sports or working in construction zones
- Wearing a helmet during activities that increase your risk for head trauma, such as biking, skateboarding, or skiing
To diagnose an ear injury, your doctor will start by asking you about your symptoms and doing an ear exam. You may get several more diagnostic tests, depending on the kind of ear trauma you experienced. We use these tests to pinpoint your symptoms and what parts of your ear have been damaged.
Ear exam
We examine your outer ear and look inside your ear using a microscope. Your doctor will note any signs of damage in your ear canal, eardrum, or middle ear. For example, your doctor may see blood or fluid in your ear, or a hole in your eardrum.
Imaging
If your doctor suspects inner ear injury, bone fractures, or nerve damage, you may get imaging tests. These tests could include a computed tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Hearing tests
Your doctor will do hearing tests if an ear injury has changed your ability to hear. Hearing tests look at your response to several aspects of sound, such as tone, pitch, and loudness.
Hearing tests may include:
- Acoustic reflex test (ear muscle reflex test): We look at your ear’s automatic response to loud sounds, called the acoustic reflex.
- Pure-tone test: This test plays tones of different pitch and loudness.
- Speech and word recognition tests: You’ll listen to words spoken at different volumes.
- Tuning fork tests: These tests (also called Rinne and Weber tests) play a tone using a tuning fork to see which kind of hearing loss you have.
Ear Injuries and Trauma
For minor or serious ear injuries and trauma, our specialists work with you to heal ear damage and manage side effects, such as traumatic hearing loss.
Ear Injuries and Trauma
Ear injury
ear trauma
ear damage
signs of ear damage
inner ear bleeding
traumatic hearing loss