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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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How Long Does It Take For Ear Trauma To Recover?

I have a cold and cough and before i fully recovered, I fly to Turkey. For the first time, when the aircraft was about to land, I had pain due to pressure in my ears and my ears did not pop even on landing..I did not think much of it and continued..I thought it was due to water that went into my ear earlier while swimming and would come out on its own. Then I went scuba diving when we were instructed by the instructor to close your nose and blow hard to equalize your ears..I did this quite often when I was under water..when I came up, i had slight bleeding from the mouth but was told it was due to eosniphilia and that I should just wash it off..it was ok..but my ears never got better and I continued to have a echo in my ear.After I came back to UK, I showed myself to a doctor who said that my ear drums were traumatised due to the diving and am now under Amoxycillin 500 mg thrice a day..I am also taking hot compress and taking expectorants and paracetamol. What is your advise in this scenario and how long would this take to recover..I realise that my hearing is impaired in my right ear.
Wed, 21 Dec 2016
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ENT Specialist 's  Response
Hi,looking at your symptoms,there is a possibility that you might have suffered from fluid collection in the middle ear(fluid might contain blood) or traumatic ear drum perforation(hole).

While travelling in the flight and doing scuba diving,as you were suffering from cough and cold,there is a possibility that your eustachian tube might have been blocked(it is a tube which connects ear with nose and is responsible for the equalization of ear pressure with the outside atmospheric pressure).During travelling in the flight and scuba diving,if this tube is blocked,it will not help to maintain ear pressure with the changes in outside atmospheric pressure.This may lead to trauma in the ear including fluid collection in the middle ear(including blood) and perforation (hole) in the ear drum.The blood from the ear might have passed to the throat ,which you felt slight bleeding from the mouth.

For the treatment,you can take Analgesic(like Ibuprofen) for pain,Antihistaminic (like Cetrizine),Nasal decongestants (like Otrivin nasal drops).
You have to take precaution that no water should go inside ear while taking bath,you may use ear plug.Avoid self cleaning of your ear.Avoid loud sounds.Do steam inhalation.Avoid Cold food.Avoid dust and other pollutants.

The trauma that has occured in your ear(possibiltiy of fluid collection in the middle ear or hole in the ear drum)might take around 6-8 weeks to recover.
Even after 8 weeks,if your hole in the ear drum is not healed on itself,then you may need a surgery after hearing test(called pure tone audiogram) and consulting an ENT Specialist doctor.

While in the healing phase,it would be advisable to avoid flight trips and scuba diving.

Hope this answers your question.Take care.
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How Long Does It Take For Ear Trauma To Recover?

Hi,looking at your symptoms,there is a possibility that you might have suffered from fluid collection in the middle ear(fluid might contain blood) or traumatic ear drum perforation(hole). While travelling in the flight and doing scuba diving,as you were suffering from cough and cold,there is a possibility that your eustachian tube might have been blocked(it is a tube which connects ear with nose and is responsible for the equalization of ear pressure with the outside atmospheric pressure).During travelling in the flight and scuba diving,if this tube is blocked,it will not help to maintain ear pressure with the changes in outside atmospheric pressure.This may lead to trauma in the ear including fluid collection in the middle ear(including blood) and perforation (hole) in the ear drum.The blood from the ear might have passed to the throat ,which you felt slight bleeding from the mouth. For the treatment,you can take Analgesic(like Ibuprofen) for pain,Antihistaminic (like Cetrizine),Nasal decongestants (like Otrivin nasal drops). You have to take precaution that no water should go inside ear while taking bath,you may use ear plug.Avoid self cleaning of your ear.Avoid loud sounds.Do steam inhalation.Avoid Cold food.Avoid dust and other pollutants. The trauma that has occured in your ear(possibiltiy of fluid collection in the middle ear or hole in the ear drum)might take around 6-8 weeks to recover. Even after 8 weeks,if your hole in the ear drum is not healed on itself,then you may need a surgery after hearing test(called pure tone audiogram) and consulting an ENT Specialist doctor. While in the healing phase,it would be advisable to avoid flight trips and scuba diving. Hope this answers your question.Take care.