Instant bruised ear - serious? (Pic!)

[Popskipiekin]

My toddler has no regard for his own safety and ran into a doorway (I didn’t see this happen, with nanny) and the top of his ear instantly swelled and bruised. Cold compress applied, he immediately wanted to carry on playing, totally unbothered and has slept on it etc. I think it looks horrendous (it looks cut/like a bite but skin not actually broken and no blood) and have been reading horror stories of potential cauliflower ear and that I should have gone to have it “drained” immediately. The ear has now pulled away from his head and sticking out. Any experiences/thoughts? Am going to ring and get GP appointment first thing if it still looks this bad in morning... thanks!

Seek immediate medical advice. Hope he’s okay.

What, actually? Have you any experience of this? Thank you!!

I'd get it seen even if looking a little better tomorrow. My daughter had a similar ear trauma a few weeks back (her ear was almost ripped from her head), and I didn't get it seen and only found out afterwards how serious it can be.

Luckily her ear has healed up just fine, but from what I was told I'd 100% get it checked if I were you. No harm in checking, could be harm in not. Hope all is well!

Ears have a really good blood supply, so they do tend to bleed and bruise quite dramatically. It's hard to tell from the photograph whether he has a collection of blood (haematoma) that might need to be drained - best to get it looked it tomorrow morning.

Frustratedwife thank you very much, I will. Glad your DD is ok! Like you, I had no idea this could actually be such a problematic injury. I’m always so slow to kick into high gear over these things. DS is so stoic he gives no signs of it being a problem but I’ll just have to play anxious parent tomorrow.

couchpotato it looked a heck of a lot worse when it first happened but has gone down. Haematoma, now I have consulted dr google was exactly what I was worried about. This is what it looked like when he did it first but has improved - maybe the blood draining away naturally?

I think I would get that double checked.. I don't know anything about them, just saying what I would do if it were on my child

It looks like the swelling has already gone down quite a bit. I'd be inclined to do as you are planning and see your GP in the morning to get it checked.

bigones yes I think I need a little nudging sometimes to bother a doctor about things, it’s helpful to hear a chorus of people saying they would have it checked out, so thank you. And lindy yes when I saw that photo when I was at work earlier I couldn’t believe my eyes. It’s much better now but still, right to get it checked.
Thanks all for steering me in right direction! I’ll remind myself what a nice GP said to me once when I took other DS in for yet another ear infection and apologised for wasting time: “oh it’s never a waste of time to check out your child if you’re worried, and we love seeing children”. He might have been fibbing but made me feel better. As have you all. Night!

@Popskipiekin

My toddler has no regard for his own safety and ran into a doorway (I didn’t see this happen, with nanny) and the top of his ear instantly swelled and bruised. Cold compress applied, he immediately wanted to carry on playing, totally unbothered and has slept on it etc. I think it looks horrendous (it looks cut/like a bite but skin not actually broken and no blood) and have been reading horror stories of potential cauliflower ear and that I should have gone to have it “drained” immediately. The ear has now pulled away from his head and sticking out. Any experiences/thoughts? Am going to ring and get GP appointment first thing if it still looks this bad in morning... thanks!

Hi, My 2yo has just injured her ear just like your kid's, I am going to take her to the pediatrician tomorrow morning, i was wondering how did it go with your kid, did he heal completely? I'm kind of concerned from what i've found searching on the Internet. Did you take him to the doctor immediately or the next day?