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The golden rule is if you are bleeding from your ear, call a doctor and get to the hospital immediately for emergency treatment if the bleeding results from a head injury.

According to Healthgrades.com, the ear consists of three main areas:

• The outer ear, made up of the external ear and ear canal.
• In the middle ear, the eardrum and the ossicles are located.
• The inner ear consists of nerve endings that pick up sound waves.

Bleeding may originate from any of these three sections of the ear. However, the leading cause of ear bleeding is the perforating or rupturing of the eardrum. Dizziness, a fever, and loss of hearing and balance often accompany this.

Causes Of Bleeding 

There are many other possible causes of an ear bleed. Here are some common ones.

Ear Infection

According to WebMD, bacteria and viruses from an upper respiratory infection may spread. This can cause a middle ear infection, resulting in swelling and fluid build-up behind the eardrum, a natural barrier against germs. 

The build-up breaks through the delicate eardrum membrane, causing fluid and blood to leak. 

Although the ruptured or perforated eardrum can heal within a few weeks, doctors monitor the infection. They may prescribe over-the-counter painkillers, oral antibiotics, or antibiotic eardrops.

Besides bleeding from your ear, the symptoms of an ear infection are usually a fever of at least 37.78 degrees Celsius, earache, temporary loss of hearing, dizziness, and a stuffy nose. 

If you have severe pain, fluid, pus, and bleeding from your ear, you should get to your doctor immediately.

Head Injury

Bleeding from your ear after a fall or sustaining a brutal hit on the head is a medical emergency, as this could indicate a head injury. The trauma may result in skull fractures, bleeding from the brain, ear canal cuts, lacerations, and vein and artery damage in the ear that requires hospital stays and surgery. 

Use the iER app to call for emergency services if you experience a severe headache and other symptoms after a fall or a knock to the head. 

These symptoms may include:

• loss of consciousness for a short time, 
• tiredness or sleepiness, 
• unable to sleep or to sleep too much, 
• dizziness, 
• nausea or vomiting, 
• loss of balance, 
• communication difficulties, 
• disorientation, 
• and loss of balance.

Object In The Ear

Children are fond of putting things in their ears, and if it goes too deep in the ear, a cotton swab or a tiny toy may rupture the eardrum. Besides bleeding, other symptoms include loss of hearing and pain.

If your child has something in their ear, you could try to remove it by grabbing onto the edge of it with tweezers or tilting the head to the side to get the object to fall out. If the object is immovable, you will need to go to the emergency room to have it removed if you can’t see your doctor straight away. 

Pressure Change Injuries

Barotrauma (a pressure change injury) occurs when there is a sudden change of air or water pressure, such as when you come up too fast to the surface of the water while scuba diving or when you are on a plane, and it comes into land.

The pressure may be so intense that it causes your eardrum to tear, leading to bleeding out of the ear. You are likely to experience earache, a stuffy feeling, dizziness, hearing loss, or ringing in the ears. This is a medical emergency, and you must get to the emergency room as soon as possible.

In conclusion, you must seek treatment for any unexplained bleeding from your ears. When you need immediate assistance, use the iER App to ensure the appropriate help is sent to you as quickly as possible.

The iER App is 100% FREE to use on your smart device. There are no in-app purchases or adverts.

iER uses your mobile internet connection to receive your alerts, chat with you and update you with your alert status.

Your immediate GPS position is sent to iER with your alert status so that iER can deploy emergency services to your exact location.