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Did I just rupture my eardrum? If so, should I go to Urgent Care or wait for an ENT appointment

pleaseinsertdisctwo

pleaseinsertdisctwo

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
14,991
Hi so I've had a history of ear infections

one time I definitely ruptured my eardrum around 3 years ago but I don't remember what it felt like

Today I put isopropyl alcohol in my ear. I heard and felt some weird sensation in my left ear and I can't really describe it. It sounded like my ear gulped lol

THEN I PROCEEDED TO OBVIOUSLY DRAIN THE LIQUID FROM MY EAR

and then I was like

Lemme use a q-tip (I know it's bad ok)

and I tried being gentle and I probably went too far like an idiot

and then all of a sudden it felt like my left ear is full, like it's distracting

I looked at my q tip and I saw a tiny drop of blood but nothing crazy

Is this just an inflammation response or did I actually rupture my eardrum?

Please don't insult me I already know it was really dumb of me and I shouldn't use q-tips



anyways, I requested an appointment with my ENT, and I'll call them tomorrow. I don't feel any pain rn, just a distracting fullness in my left ear. I guess if it gets worse I'll go to urgent care first thing in the morning
 
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Fat4all

Fat4all

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot
Member
Oct 25, 2017
93,266
here
one time when i was young i was cleaning my ear with a qtip and a nat flew in front of my face so i went to swat at it with my qtippin' hand and jammed that baby deep into that canal

didnt do any damage to my hearing but boy did it feel weird
 
Conkersbadfurday

Conkersbadfurday

Member
Oct 29, 2017
5,318
Minnesota
Oof. Honestly I'd say urgent care. It could take months to get a proper appointment with an ENT, and it's gonna cost an arm and a leg anyhow. Urgent care can get you some quicker results if you're worried.

But i'm not a doctor.
 
BLEEN

BLEEN

Member
Oct 27, 2017
21,914
pleaseinsertdisctwo said:
Are you guys for real? Obviously I drained it and I felt fullness after going too far with my q-tip. I'm not an idiot. I know how it feels to put liquid in the ear.
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Was joking. But, is there's a tip to drain your ear when something goes in it, please let me know!

It'll happen to me in the shower or swimming every so often.
 
Arrrammis

Arrrammis

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,142
Bilb Ono said:
It's possible the alcohol loosened some ear wax that's now blocking your ear canal.
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This is what I was going to post as well. Had that happen before and stopped by immediate care, had them wash it out, immediately I could hear again.

Not sure about the blood though, worth asking about. Is it painful, or is it just a full/dense feeling with sound muffled in that ear?
 
DPT120

DPT120

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,540
BLEEN said:
Was joking. But, is there's a tip to drain your ear when something goes in it, please let me know!

It'll happen to me in the shower or swimming every so often.
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Pour a spoonful of isopropyl alcohol in your ear. It works like a charm. I used to swim a lot and water would get stuck in my ears, then I discovered this trick.
 
vivftp

vivftp

Member
Oct 29, 2017
19,798
SilentPanda said:
Get one of these for the future?
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I had a thread about buying an endoscope a while back:

www.resetera.com

Anyone ever bought an endoscope for personal use?

I've always been curious about owning an endoscope to stick in various holes like my ears and see what's going on in there. It looks like they've come down in price a lot over the past few years and am curious if anyone's tried one. Here's one example off of Amazon...
www.resetera.com www.resetera.com

I got it and it's great for checking in my ears! The tiny loop it comes with is perfect for targeting and scooping up pockets of wax and whatnot.
 
RedMercury

RedMercury

Blue Venus
Member
Dec 24, 2017
17,694
You sure it's blood? Could just be earwax mixed with the alcohol residue. You're probably fine if it doesn't hurt, see how it feels in the morning
 
xxracerxx

xxracerxx

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
31,222
DPT120 said:
Pour a spoonful of isopropyl alcohol in your ear. It works like a charm. I used to swim a lot and water would get stuck in my ears, then I discovered this trick.
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I have never heard of this, so I am looking at this link:
www.healthline.com

Rubbing Alcohol in Ear: Uses, Safety, Precautions

If you don’t have a punctured eardrum, rubbing alcohol may be safely used in your ears to treat and prevent conditions such as swimmer’s ear. Learn what other ear conditions it may be used for, how to use it, and when to see a doctor.
www.healthline.com www.healthline.com
and this:
and it seems like it is supposed to be a mix, not straight up iso.
 
AlphaCookie

AlphaCookie

Member
Nov 6, 2017
788
Washington
Use an eye dropper and drip some mineral oil/baby oil into your ear and then flush it out with warm water a few times. If you wound up pushing some wax too deep into your ear, it helps. If you did rupture your eardrum, which I doubt you did, alcohol will burn like a son of a bitch. Plus it can dry out your inner ear and cause irritation.
 
supermatt

supermatt

Member
Oct 25, 2017
371
Not sure what a doctor would do even if you did rupture your ear drum. I had a bad ear infection when I was younger that caused my ear drum to rupture and the doctor told me it would fix itself, which it eventually did. I was given some antibiotics for the infection that caused it, but nothing for the ear drum itself.
 
WhySoDevious

WhySoDevious

Member
Oct 31, 2017
8,467
Maybe you pushed some wax deeper into your ear and that's why you feel it full.

Snap your fingers next to each ear... is there a difference?

The drop of blood might just be from you scratching in there.

But go to a doctor.
 
Truno

Truno

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Jan 16, 2020
4,885
The alcohol probably loosened your ear wax and you pushed it back with the q-tip creating a blockage. Had a similar issue after putting hydrogen peroxide, but was easily fixed with an ear irrigator. The stain on the q-tip could be darkened ear wax that was loosened with the alcohol.

Also don't wanna sound like a dick but it might be better to seek aid from a professional instead of asking on Era
 
eZipsis

eZipsis

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
2,448
Melbourne, Australia
Don't ever use q-tips.

I know people say it a lot, but seriously.. don't.
I'm practically deaf on my left side now. I have very minimal heard and need headphones if I actually want to be able to watch something.

eZipsis said:
I'm 33 and I've got Cholesteatoma in both ears. I have had two surgeries on my left ear with a third booked for the end of this year. My doctor told me after the first surgery that it was the worst case he had ever seen.

First surgery saw them remove my ear drum, bones and quite a bit of disease. They put some sort of new ear drum in which collapsed a few weeks later. I had very little to no hearing from my left for the year and a half before my second surgery.

Second surgery they removed a ton more disease, put in a titanium prosthetic to replace the bones and made a new ear drum by cutting my tragus off and using that cartilage. My hearing hasn't really changed much, comparing hearing tests they said it's almost the same. A little better in some areas but the same in others.

Third surgery will happen end of this year to check if any has grown back. If it's clear we can start looking in to hearing aids and start surgery on my right ear, which is no where near as bad.
If it has grown back, then well they cut it all out again and I go back again a year after for a forth look.
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I used to be one of those "it won't happen to me, I do it properly" people, so don't even say it. There is no proper way of using a q-tip in your ear.
Don't risk it by trying to clean it yourself, go to a doctor. There are nerves behind your ear drum that control your face. Every time after my surgeries I can only taste metal on one side of my tongue for a week and there is always the risk of face paralysis.
 
Fat4all

Fat4all

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot
Member
Oct 25, 2017
93,266
here
SilentPanda said:
you can put it in your nose?
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9f82de05c571fb8f51a2dcaf860b7401.gif
 
OP
OP
pleaseinsertdisctwo

pleaseinsertdisctwo

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
14,991
WhySoDevious said:
Maybe you pushed some wax deeper into your ear and that's why you feel it full.

Snap your fingers next to each ear... is there a difference?

The drop of blood might just be from you scratching in there.

But go to a doctor.
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The thing is, that's happened before. I went to the ENT thinking my ears were fine and not blocked. In actuality my left ear was super blocked and he pulled out the longest grossest piece of earwax I've ever seen. It was also SOOOOOO painful. lol

so yeah I think it's about time for an ENT check up anyways
 
EatChildren

EatChildren

Wonder from Down Under
Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,038
You have likely done exactly this:

Truno said:
The alcohol probably loosened your ear wax and you pushed it back with the q-tip creating a blockage.
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Q-tips are notoriously bad for your ears (as you know), but beyond potential damage they're also actually pretty shit at getting out earwax, and can instead compact the wax deeper into your ear. If you're also suffering an ear infection the canal might be inflamed, tightning the pathway and making the matter even worse. This might also explain the blood.

Go to a doctor at your most immediate convenience and have them take a look.
 
OP
OP
pleaseinsertdisctwo

pleaseinsertdisctwo

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
14,991
eZipsis said:
Don't ever use q-tips.

I know people say it a lot, but seriously.. don't.
I'm practically deaf on my left side now. I have very minimal heard and need headphones if I actually want to be able to watch something.



I used to be one of those "it won't happen to me, I do it properly" people, so don't even say it. There is no proper way of using a q-tip in your ear.
Don't risk it by trying to clean it yourself, go to a doctor. There are nerves behind your ear drum that control your face. Every time after my surgeries I can only taste metal on one side of my tongue for a week and there is always the risk of face paralysis.
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I literally threw away my q-tips immediately after reading this lol
 
AntoneM

AntoneM

Member
Oct 25, 2017
716
Impaction is the most probable cause, but, you can't rule out something else. Sleep on it and if your ear starts to feel painful the next day it's probably impaction with "swimmers ear". First time I had that I went to the ER and said I suddenly couldn't hear out of ear and then got a lecture on how the ER shouldn't be used for what I had, but, they pulled out a chuck of earwax that was surprisingly large. Second time it happened I no longer had health insurance and I asked for advice from friends and was given advice to get some garlic oil drops and I put them in in the ear and cover with a warm wet cloth while laying down for a bit and then lay down on the side of the affected ear for a while, after multiple times and maybe 24-36 hours of pulling on my ear lobe it was clear.
 
vivftp

vivftp

Member
Oct 29, 2017
19,798
This thread reminded me of my proudest earwax moment. It must've been 15 or so years ago when I decided I wanted to clean out my ears so of course brilliant me was using a Qtip. As I stuck the Qtip in there I guess my arm slipped and I went in with more force than intended. Fortunately I avoided hitting the actual eardrum and the force was directed towards the inner ear walls. Immediately I could feel something was a wee bit... off. So then I did the only logical thing, I had this mini screwdriver that had a head that was exactly like an actual screw and I stuck it in there to see what was up. Since the screwed portion of the head had all those grooves I used to like using it to clear out wax because it'd latch onto things and I could pull them out, but of course the danger was the pointy tip.

Anyways, I stuck the mini screwdriver in, pressed it against the inner wall of my ear and pulled out... a masterpiece. It was perfect I tells ya. It was a perfect hollow cylinder of soft ear wax. looped around the entire head of the screwdriver. Picture it like earwax had formed an even coating around the entire inner portion of my ear, the Qtip dislodged it and it all came out in 1 perfect piece. I was able to unroll the cylinder into a perfect wax sheet too. Oh how I wish this happened at a time when I had a camera to take a picture of it.

I was so proud I tells ya.
 
FelRes

FelRes

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
817
CA
Might as well throw this out there since we're learning about ears, but never get on a plane with swimmer's ear. Unless you enjoy holding your head between your knees for a whole flight, blood on arrival, and having massive hearing loss in an ear for about half a year. And if you do, avoid sleeping with white pillows. (Picking the dried blood out felt pretty satisfying tho)
 
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