Facts about blood in the ear

If you hear blood rushing in your ear, it could also be tinnitus. However, in the case of extreme stress, there can also be talk of a so-called sudden hearing loss or, in the worst case, incoming hearing loss. Tinnitus can also become a permanent ringing in the ears and is often perceived as very distressing.

If a cotton swab penetrates too deeply into the ear when cleaning your ears, it can already lead to a small injury with blood. It is due to the fact that the thin skin deep in the ear canal is heavily stressed after frequent use of cotton swabs. It lies directly on the bone with no cartilage or layers of tissue in between. Thus, it is hardly yielding or stretchable.

Small tears in the skin quickly form, which can bleed profusely due to the good blood circulation in the ears and only heal very slowly, since the thin skin regenerates very slowly due to the non-existent tissue layer under the skin. It is therefore important to remove the earwax carefully and only at the ear outlet so that the skin is not damaged. Learn all there is to know about how to clean your ears properly with the help of our hearing aid specialists and ENT doctors to prevent ear bleeding. 

In the case of purulent middle ear infections, blood often collects in the ear after a tympanostomy tube operation. It is a surgical incision made by a doctor on the eardrum to drain pus in the middle ear through the ear canal. The wound secretion and blood then mix with each other. In the case of a middle ear infection, this is called a bloody discharge.

If the eardrum bursts, little or no blood flows out of the ear. The eardrum lies well protected deep at the end of the auditory canal behind several auditory canal convolutions of different strengths. Although it is a thin membrane, it is held in place by internal tissue fibers and contains few blood vessels. This means that there is only minimal bleeding when the eardrum is injured. An eardrum is also only about the size of a pinhead, which is why it is quite robust and minor injuries usually heal relatively quickly. 

If blood flows from the ear after a violent fall after a severe head injury, this is alarming. Severe head should always be examined by a doctor, no matter whether you are young or old, as you may be suffering from concussions or even a fracture to the base of the skull. However, a corresponding abrasion on or near the ear can also be the cause of blood flow.

In hypertensive patients with acutely high blood pressure, they often perceive the blood flowing in the vessels of the ear as noise Ears contain many blood vessels, which is why increased blood pressure can actually become audible noise due to the sensitive sensors of the hearing organ.

If you see blood in a child's ear, the cause may be an otitis media. Children often touch their ears. Other indications are severe exhaustion and fever in children.

The blood then comes from small injuries on the eardrum, which causes small, bloody, suppurating blisters. The wound secretion and pus then drain through these small openings, which means that the pain and discomfort abruptly subside.

A doctor should be consulted in the following cases:

• Violent head trauma due to a fall
• Severe pain in the ear area
• Persistent, heavy bleeding over a short period of time or in the case of light bleeding that does not stop for more than two days 
• Weeping ears with odorous wound secretion
  
• drowsiness, dizziness 
• Numbness and loud ringing in the ears (tinnitus)

The doctor treating you will take the ear bleeding as a serious symptom and then draw up a detailed anamnesis. First, family and personal pre-existing conditions are queried, as well as other currently acute symptoms. In the case of severe ear bleeding, questions are also asked about the effects of violence from an accident or from third parties.

Next, the ear canal is examined with an otoscope. Inflammation or a damaged eardrum can thus already be detected. However, if the ear bleeds are caused by an accident, a CT scan of the skull is performed to diagnose possible skull fractures.

An untreated delayed middle ear infection can cause life-threatening bone suppuration, which causes bone damage on the skull and jaw.

Complete deafness can be a complication of head trauma, if a skull fracture occurs in the ear and the organ's inner ear fluid leaks out. A head trauma that causes blood to flow from the ear can indicate an increased risk of a stroke.

A damaged or ruptured eardrum can be irreversible if it is not working properly, no longer vibrating properly or no longer healing, leaving holes in the eardrum. Water can penetrate through a hole in the eardrum and lead to more serious and difficult to treat middle ear infections. 

Wounds in the auditory canal area can swell, which in the worst case can lead to serious chronic inflammation of the auditory canal.