Ruptured Eardrum

Your eardrum is a flexible membrane that separates your outer ear from your middle ear. You can rupture your eardrum if you have a severe middle ear infection or you injure or damage your eardrum. A ruptured eardrum may affect your hearing and sense of balance. Ruptured eardrums often heal without treatment. Sometimes, however, you may need surgery to repair your damaged eardrum. Protecting your ears is the best way to prevent ruptured eardrums.

How does a ruptured eardrum affect my body?

Your eardrum is one of many working parts in your hearing system. Your outer ear collects sounds that make your eardrum vibrate. Those vibrations create a signal for your auditory nerve that the nerve sends to your brain. Your brain translates those signals into sound. When you rupture your eardrum, it’s as if there’s a short circuit in your hearing system because your eardrum can’t transmit sound effectively.

Your eardrum also protects your middle ear from foreign substances like water, bacteria and debris like skin cells. A ruptured eardrum is an easy target for bacteria that cause ear infections (otitis media).

Sometimes, skin cells and other debris pass into your middle ear, forming a middle ear cyst (cholesteatoma). These cysts have proteins that may damage your middle ear bones. Middle ear cysts also increase your risk of developing middle ear infections.

Is a ruptured eardrum serious?

In some instances, a ruptured eardrum maybe a serious health issue if the hole or tear in your ear doesn’t heal on its own. For example, a ruptured eardrum can cause the following:

• Long-term hearing loss.
• Long-term vertigo.
• Long-term dizziness.
• Infection that can spread in your ear.
• Persistent ear drum perforation (hole).