How To Treat And Prevent A Ruptured Eardrum

Don't Stick Anything In The Ears

Inserting foreign objects into the ears, including cotton buds, is one of the main causes of a ruptured eardrum. Many patients try to clean their ears with cotton buds or other materials, and these swabs are often inserted into the ears too far, resulting in an immediate rupture of the eardrum. To reduce this risk, it is important that patients don't stick anything in their ears. In fact, the ears will clean themselves naturally, and sticking items into the ears will not help this process; it could actually impede it. In addition to letting the ears clean themselves, patients should be especially careful when they are inserting earplugs for sleeping or noise reduction. These should be inserted only as far as is comfortable, and patients should follow the directions for use on the earplugs package. In particular, it is important to avoid using homemade earplug solutions, including cotton balls, as these can easily become trapped inside the ears during sleep.

Continue reading to reveal more options for preventing and treating ruptured eardrums now.