MetaChat - Ruptured eardrum, can't hear after 1.5 weeks

MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.

02 March 2010

Ruptured eardrum, can't hear after 1.5 weeks Wow, seems like I've needed a lot of advice lately,. So a friend of mine had a ruptured eardrum as a result of a very bad infection.→[More:]She lost hearing in that ear a couple of days before the actual rupture.

The ER doctor said it should only take a couple of days for hearing to return. Another doctor said at least two weeks.

She's just finishing up her course of antibiotics and still has no hearing in that ear whatsoever, and is pretty freaked out about it.

I'm not seeking medical advice (I know you're probably not a doctor) but has anyone else been through this or known someone who has? Any comforting (or non-comforting) words for my friend based on those experiences?

post by: treepour at: 21:39 | 3 comments

My daughter just had a terrible middle ear infection and she didn't have hearing in her ear for five weeks. It slowly started coming back beginning about three days after she finished the antibiotic, so tell your friend to wait a couple of days and see.

posted by mygothlaundry 02 March | 21:57

Mine went boom about this time two years ago, and my vague memory is that it took about a week for me to stop hearing every sound as a chord, and maybe three weeks for things to feel normal again. No lasting effects that I can really notice. It was nice to be able to point at my more strongly-affected ear and shake my head sadly when one or another of my co-workers stopped by to try to draw me into a chat.

posted by notquitemaryann 02 March | 22:08

I blew an eardrum when I was about eleven, and it took nearly two months for the hearing to return. I don't think it is so uncommon for it to take awhile for hearing to return.

posted by msali 02 March | 22:18

← Cheer-ups? || 55 Pretty Amazing Recipes →

HOME || REGISTER || LOGIN