Perforated eardrum

[iheartmichellemallon]

Found out today that my 9 year old has a perforated ear drum - we thought it was a simple ear infection so feel terrible not to have realised.

Dr has prescribed antibiotics & said to keep the ear totally dry but is there anything else we should do or need to be aware of?

The gunky stuff will dribble out, all over pillows so you’ll need to wash them more.

Weather is ok at the moment but it hurts more when cold and windy.

We put Vaseline on a bit of cotton wool and placed on the outside of the ear for bathtime but DS was younger than yours.

Don’t feel bad, it probably was a bad ear infection and the pressure made it burst. I didn’t even know they did that until it happened to DS.

Oh, also it can take several months to heal so do go back the doc or nurse and ask them to check.

Thank you. He has to go back to the dr in a month for a check up.

It'll probably sort itself. As others said don't get water in it, so no swimming and earplugs if washing hair. It's actually less painful once it's burst.

They can heal very quickly-ds's heal very quickly, or occasionally they don't heal and they need a little operation to mend them. That's relatively unusual though.
Ds' record was 8 in 2 months (and yes it had cleared up between each as verified by ENT! Roughly each ear every fortnight) and he had grommets put in quickly before a 9th happened.

Thanks.