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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Blood On Cotton Bud On Cleaning Ear. What Is The Cause And Remedy?

I was cleaning my right ear normally with a cotton bud, when I took it out and it had quite a lot of blood on it. I tried my left ear and it was fine. I was told I should leave it for about 3 days, so I did and then came back to it and it still had blood on it. What is it, is there anything I can t do (swimming, etc) and is there anything I should do about it?
Fri, 22 Nov 2013
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ENT Specialist 's  Response
hello and welcome to health care magic,

I am Dr Sriram nathan and i Shall try to help you out with your problem.

You seem to have injured your drum or canal when you were cleaning with the bud.

You definitely need to get the drum examined by an ENT with an instrument called the otoscope for correct diagnosis.

Many people do not realize the danger of a cleaning with buds, you do not have to clean at all. Our ear has an excellent self cleansing mechanism so you do not have to clean.
The blood clot will dissolve in a week or so hence do not worry and do these:
-take a course of antibiotic like amox-clav and anti histamine like levocetrizine in consultation with your doctor

-get an audiometric testing done

-Do not take head bath for two weeks and after that do not allow any water to enter the ear

-Do not put any other ear drops

-If the pain is more then you may consider taking injectable medications for better and faster symptom control.

-of course these mean that you cannot swim for at least two weeks or so

Remember that if you keep your ears clean and dry the drum will recover
In any case you can get your drums examined by an ENT with otoscope and get back to me with the report.

If any other doubts get back to me

regards

Dr Sriram Nathan
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Blood On Cotton Bud On Cleaning Ear. What Is The Cause And Remedy?

hello and welcome to health care magic, I am Dr Sriram nathan and i Shall try to help you out with your problem. You seem to have injured your drum or canal when you were cleaning with the bud. You definitely need to get the drum examined by an ENT with an instrument called the otoscope for correct diagnosis. Many people do not realize the danger of a cleaning with buds, you do not have to clean at all. Our ear has an excellent self cleansing mechanism so you do not have to clean. The blood clot will dissolve in a week or so hence do not worry and do these: -take a course of antibiotic like amox-clav and anti histamine like levocetrizine in consultation with your doctor -get an audiometric testing done -Do not take head bath for two weeks and after that do not allow any water to enter the ear -Do not put any other ear drops -If the pain is more then you may consider taking injectable medications for better and faster symptom control. -of course these mean that you cannot swim for at least two weeks or so Remember that if you keep your ears clean and dry the drum will recover In any case you can get your drums examined by an ENT with otoscope and get back to me with the report. If any other doubts get back to me regards Dr Sriram Nathan