Some ear injuries will heal on their own without complex treatment. Active surveillance means we’ll keep a close eye on your ear injury as it heals. Your doctor will continue doing ear exams and imaging tests, if needed, at follow-up visits. We’ll take action if ear damage worsens or complications develop, such as an ear infection.

If you have ear trauma caused by an object stuck inside your ear, your doctor will carefully take out the object. Trying to take out the object at home may cause more ear damage. Our specialists have the knowledge and tools to remove objects without further hurting your ear.

You may need surgery for certain ear injuries and trauma, including more severe ear damage. Our surgeons specialize in advanced microsurgery procedures to fix ear damage. Surgery also treats complications of ear injuries, such as hearing loss or cholesteatoma (a skin cyst).

Your treatment plan may include surgery to:

• Drain blood: Auricular hematoma causes blood to pool under the skin of your outer ear. We drain the blood and take precautions to keep blood from building up in the future.
• Repair your eardrum: Surgery can fix the hole in your eardrum after tympanic membrane perforation. For larger tears, we may perform surgery in the operating room. We can often repair smaller tears in the clinic.
• Repair your outer ear: An auricular deformity changes the shape of your outer ear. We can repair cuts with simple stiches, or we may use cartilage from other parts of your body to return your ear to its normal shape.
• Fix your middle ear bones: We have expertise in a specialized procedure called ossiculoplasty, or ossicular reconstruction. This procedure treats hearing loss from ossicular dislocation or ossicular fracture. We rebuild or replace one or more of the middle ear bones.
• Place an implantable hearing device: We use implanted hearing devices to help with hearing loss after ear injuries and trauma.
• Remove cysts: Ear injuries and trauma may cause cholesteatoma to develop in your ear. Since these skin cysts can lead to more problems and worsen hearing loss, we may remove them.
• Fix cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks: A temporal bone fracture may cause CSF to leak from the brain. Many CSF leaks heal on their own, but we may need to do surgery to fix the source of the leak.

Medications help treat complications from ear injuries and trauma. Ear damage can cause ear infection, swelling, and inflammation. Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics to treat infection, or corticosteroids to reduce swelling and inflammation. You may receive these medications in pill form or as liquid ear drops.

Ear injuries and trauma commonly cause conductive hearing loss. Damage to your outer ear, ear canal, eardrum, or middle ear may cause this type of hearing loss. In many cases, conductive hearing loss gets better after the ear injury heals.

We offer hearing aids as temporary or permanent treatment. You can choose from multiple types of hearing aids that work by amplifying the sound around you.

Our specialists spend time with you to figure out the type, fit, and settings that work best for you. You may receive a:

• Behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aid
• In-the-ear (ITE) hearing aid
• In-the-canal (ITC) hearing aid
• Body aid (ear mold connected to a small box you keep in your pocket or on a belt)

When external hearing aids don’t work well enough to improve hearing loss, implanted hearing devices may help. Our skilled surgeons carefully implant these devices, which include:

• Bone conduction hearing devices: These implants help with conductive hearing loss (caused by injury to your outer or middle ear).
• Cochlear implants: You’ll see a surgeon at our dedicated Cochlear Implant Center for a cochlear implant. This device helps patients with sensorineural hearing loss. Ear injuries and trauma to your inner ear or temporal bone can cause this type of hearing loss.

Ear injuries may cause balance problems. You have access to the Stanford Health Care Balance Center if you experience these side effects. After a complete evaluation of your symptoms, we come up with a treatment plan to improve your balance. Our team combines the expertise of otologists (ENT), neurologists, rehabilitation medicine specialists, and orthopaedists.