Ear hematomas

Anyone have any experience of these?

Dexter my Labrador has one on his right ear that I have noticed as of today. He has had on-off troubles with yeasty years since he was young and this is presumably the result of yet another underlying infection. He has never had one of these before, though.

I've been looking on the internet and it appears the main recommended course of treatment is surgery. I am a bit gutted about that really and feeling slightly guilty that I hadn't noticed the infection before.

Obviously being a Sunday all the vets have been shut today but I'm booking him in first thing in the morning. He seems alright in himself, moping a bit, but is eating/drinking and doesn't appear to be in pain.

Any experiences anyone would like to share would be welcomed.

We've had to deal with them a lot. Worst case was our oldest pointer, who had to have buttons sewn onto her ear, which didn't actually work!! She was the only one who went through surgery.

The rest were drained at the vets while we held them. The ear always ended up a bit like a cauliflour ear though.

Helen

Ick... Sounds a bit more positive than surgery though. Surgery seems quite extreme for a blood blister, but I suppose it is determined on a case by case basis.

The worst one was the whole ear and it was drained quite a few times. It was really the last resort. All mine have been fine with being held while the vet did it, so I guess it does depend on the individual dog and whether they would be comfortable/happy with it happening.

Helen

Yes, one of my dogs had this once, but we thought it was brought on by her shaking her head and whacking her ear against a radiator, it seemed to coincide.

Anyway, on my trip to the vet, he slit it down the middle no aneasthetic, no nothing, I was quite shocked, as she huddled in the corner Then he told me that I must keep squeazing it each day, so as to keep the blood flowing out of it otherwise it would end up as a cauliflower ear, but on day 3, I just couldn't do it any longer as it wanted to heal over, and I just couldn't do it to her, so I left it, and yes, it ended up shrivelled up a bit, but she wasn't going to win any beauty competitions anyway at her old age. I just couldn't do what they wanted me to do with it, it was causing her pain when I kept having to open up the wound he'd made.

This was many years ago, maybe things have changed now and there's an op option you can go down, or if you're not bothered about a bit of a shrivelled up ear, then ask the vet if you can just leave it like we did. Good luck, I don't think it's dangerous to leave it, it's more the cosmetic side of things.

Not sure if this is what my Dexter had or not; his was referred to as a 'growth' by the vet...?

He had to be on steroids and anti biotics for several weeks and the vet said that these did not do the trick and shrink it, then surgery would be needed, biopsy etc.

Thankfully those things did work. If you are anxious re surgery (and I totally empathise, I was terribly worried) then EVEN if the vet recommends surgery, might be worth seeking a second opinion?

Hopefully the vet will offer something less invasive, best of luck and a hug to your Dexter!

Its burst vessels in the ear,
Sometimes draining and injecting a steroid into it can sort it,thing is its hollow and if the cause was not trauma it may refill,buttons are the old fashioned way,now days u drain it then 'score it' and put lots of stitches through it so it isn't a big pocket to fill up again...u have to get to the bottom of why its happened tho

An aural haematoma is a blood blister that forms between the different layers of the ear. It is the blood that pushes them apart, forming a blood-filled pocket. It isn't a growth and so wouldn't generally be biopsied.

It can result from anything that causes bleeding without drainage- inflammation, a knock or violent shaking, including excessive scratching at the ear.

The objective is to remove fluid and any clots to allow the layers to lie flat against each other, removing the pocket. Drainage may allow this if the blood is still fluid, with surgery being necessary to remove any solid clots.

If draining, the steroid injection is to reduce inflammation to try to prevent a recurrence.

The aim is to flatten the ear and keep it stretched to avoid the contracting and crumpling that results in a cauliflower ear.

Hence a continuous line of buttons (literally sterilised, flat, round, sewing type buttons) are sewn on either side on the outside of each side of the ear, like a sandwich with the ear in the middle, to keep the front and back pressed flat together and to maintain it's original length.

A bit like a trouser press I suppose!

It's important that the dog doesn't keep shaking it's head or scratch at the ear as this will cause more blood to fill and separate it.

That usually, but not always, preserves the ear. Left alone it will usually heal but it is pretty much a given that it will contract and crumple.

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