Perforated Ear Drum

[nomoredreaming]

Hi guy I'll start from the beginning,
I have had tinnitus for a few years due to grinding and clenching in my left ear I'm on amitriptyline and that lowered it so much that I couldn't here it.

Iv recently come out of a dv relationship my ex partner slapped me over the head it was more on my ear I went deaf straight away not totaly deaf but I could tell the difference.

The next morning I woke up and my right ear was clogging up also there is loads of pressure in my right ear, I went to the doctors he said my left ear looks swollen my right ear looks fine he gave me a spray for the left ear, when I got home I sprayed my left ear with the spray it was so painful I felt the spray go down my throat.

At the same time my right ear was still cloggy and I started getting tinnitus in my right ear now.

Went back to the doctors she said she could see a hole in my left ear drum, but couldn't see anything wrong with my right ear she referred me to the ENT which could take months and sent me home.

It's been 6+ weeks now my left ear still has a hole in it and my right ear still has dull hearing, fullness and hurts sometimes as soon as I got tinnitus in my right ear I got depressed straight away and still feeling that way.

My question is how could being hit on the left side could affect my right side?? What happens if my ear doesn't heal? What if I have to have an op on it to close it will it make my tinnitus worse??

Feeling like total shit just when life was looking good and getting out of 12 years of dv relationship this happens, while my ex is having a jolly good time doing whatever he wants..

 

[Contrast]

tinnitus is usually determined by the amount of hearing loss, the more hearing loss you have usually the louder the tinnitus.

 

[robHing]

My question is how could being hit on the left side could affect my right side??

Hi... welcome ...
I am really sorry to hear your story.
Our ears are very sensitive (especially ear drum).
If the hitting force of the slap is strong then non-direct-impacted ear will also be affected.

 

[nomoredreaming]

The thing is it wasn't even that hard at all why is my ear drum healing on its own.

 

[GregCA]

My question is how could being hit on the left side could affect my right side??

Good question. There is clearly some cross talk in our hearing apparatus: sometimes T moves from one ear to the other, or both... and things we hear on one side appears as if coming from the other... it's a bit of a mystery.

What happens if my ear doesn't heal?

Then you'll have a perforated ear drum forever... unless you do surgery, which brings you to your next question:

What if I have to have an op on it to close it will it make my tinnitus worse??

If only we could predict the future... anything has a potential for making T worse, even more so when it's around the sensitive ear spots. Like any procedure, I suggest you read up on risks (side effects, etc) in terms of probabilities and decide whether or not you are ready to take the risk. Nobody can decide that for you: it's up to you and your comfort level.

When I did my stapedotomy I had a 50-50 chance of resolving my T. I got a good chunk of hearing back, but it did not help my T. It also made some of my hearing worse in the high frequencies. Part of the procedure involved patching a hole in my ear drum that wouldn't heal well on its own (that hole was from an intratympanic injection).

 

[dingaling]

tinnitus is usually determined by the amount of hearing loss, the more hearing loss you have usually the louder the tinnitus.

Um, with respect how do you reach this conclusion !? Usually, people can have no hearing loss and tinnitus and conversely hearing loss without tinnitus.

By your reckoning then, those with profound hearing loss would have the loudest tinnitus... I'm sure many on here would disagree with your statement

 

[Bill Bauer]

T often disappears several months after the ear drum heals.

 

[Contrast]

no hearing loss and tinnitus
and conversely hearing loss without tinnitus.
would disagree with your statement

https://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/20q-cochlear-synaptopathy-interrupting-communication-20946
Read the papers by Liberman, Schaette, and Kujawa on hidden hearing loss please.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4587397/
Hypothesis suggest that tinnitus (audiotory brain modification for hearing loss)
may occur in everyone who has hearing loss but it only becomes consciously notable in a few when a hypothetical gateway mechanism in the brain falls to stop it.
( i am subscribed to this idea but it is still a total hypothesis)


this covers a lot of things and mentions it being common for tinnitus being in the same frequency as the hearing loss
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4208401/

I posted these two links a million freakin times because they hold the few established facts on tinnitus. There is a lot more to be known about tinnitus ofcourse but what is already understood is in these links.

It already well established that tinnitus has something to do with higher brain functions compensating for hearing loss and that cochlear synapse damage is the most common form of hearing loss that goes unnoticed by standard audiograms. Yet people on this forum still try to make it look like tinnitus like a total mystery.

Tinnitus can alternatively be caused by TMJ, Cervical problems and traumatic brain injury as a known alternative to hearing loss.
https://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/hearing/tinnitus/cervical tinnitus.html

 

[dingaling]

@Contrast

Your quote (that I quoted) bears no connection to your later quote regarding hidden hearing loss. With respect, it might help if you had made your quote a little clearer.

You don't have to have hearing loss to get tinnitus. You can also have hearing loss without tinnitus.

And with respect, I am well aware about hidden hearing loss. I have met both C. Liberman and R. Schaette personally and attended a couple of their lectures on the subject

 

[Frédéric]

Traumatic perforations of tympanic membrane: a study of sixty patients

Background: Traumatic perforation of the tympanic membrane can lead to hearing loss. This study was undertaken to study the etiology of traumatic tympanic membrane perforations.

Methods: This hospital based retrospective observational study was conducted in the department of ENT, SMGS Hospital, Jammu from January 2018 to January 2019. A detailed clinical and otoscopic examination was done and symptoms noted. Tuning fork tests and pure tone audiometry was done in all the patients. Tympanic membrane perforations were visualized using otoscope or examination under microscope was done. A conservative management approach was adopted, except for those with bloody or watery discharge who received oral/systemic antibiotics to prevent infections.

Results: 60 patients were included in the study. Maximum patients were in the age group of 21-40 years accounting for 56.7% patients. The male to female ratio was 1.4:1. The most common complaint was tinnitus (90%), followed by pain in ear (81.6%), hearing loss (56.7%), aural fullness (45%), ear bleed (16.7%) and vertigo (5%). The most common etiology was physical assault by slaps and blows to ear (40%), followed by instrumentation (syringing and foreign body removal). In 40 (66.67%), left ear was involved whereas in 20 (33.33%) right ear was involved. 51 (85%) patients showed spontaneous healing within 3 months whereas 9 (15%) showed no healing and these 15% patients underwent tympanoplasty at the end of 3 months.

Conclusions: Traumatic tympanic membrane perforations have a very good prognosis if they are treated at a right time.

See attached file for full article.