Aural Hematoma Help please!

[Megan Amber]

So my dog's ear is swollen to the size of Texas. She wants to shake her head but cannot as it hurts and is over all miserable. Any advice on things to do for her, home treatments, foods that might help , anything would be appreciated!

Thanks, Megan

 

[Fly 2006]

She needs to see a vet, she must be in a lot of pain!

 

[Peaches Lee]

A vet visit is in order, they may need to drain it and treat the root of the problem. Her ear probably itches (from allergies or infection) and her constant scratching has caused the swelling. Good luck.

 

[Megan Amber]

So would a home draining be applicable? If you lanced it and drained it ourselves? Any cons of doing that?

 

[Peaches Lee]

The vet will probably not lance it, but rather stick a needle in it and suck the fluid out. I personally don't recommend doing it at home, but it's not my dog--you know her better than I. She may, depending the severity of the hematoma and damage caused by it, need surgery on the ear. Your best bet I think is to take her to the vet to get it checked out. Your dog may have an infection, mites or allergies that is causing her ear to itch, which then caused the hematoma, you need to find the root of the problem. I am all for doing stuff at home, but this is one of those times a vet needs to be seen. Good luck.

 

[Fly 2006]

I agree, you need to know what has caused this, it needs to be dealt with asap, I know someone who has an infected ear at the moment and she says it is agony! Please get your dog some help, it is not fair to leave it

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

If she is in that much pain, I would recommend bringing her to the vet. Our cattle dog suffered a hematoma, but showed no signs of pain. We brought him to the vet any way and they checked him out but figured he probably did it just by scratching his ear (no signs of ear infection or mites, just routine scratching). Since he wasn't in pain, they told us just to let him be and it would reduce in size on its own. Sure enough, it did but now he has a crinkled ear.

Some vets will perform surgery right away, others like to wait and see if it goes down on its own. Call first and see what they recommend. I would not risk lancing it on your own.

 

[Megan Amber]

Yeah her other ear is all crinkled as she had one there last year. But now the crinkled ear has this nasty liquid inside and is all scabbed on the inside, like it tried to puff back up but couldn't, does this sound like ear mites? So what are the risks of lancing it or draining it on our own? And thank you all for all the help!

 

[SunnySkies]

That needs to be seen by a vet. It's a surgical treatment.

I actually make an incision and place a drain in my patients with aural hematomas. Otherwise, they just refill.

There is usually an underlying issue as well that needs to be resolved to prevent further occurrences.

ETA: and they are excruciatingly painful. Do NOT attempt treatment on your own. You are likely to be bitten even by the friendliest dog.

 

[nok13]

i worked with a vet that would use buttons sewn on both sides of the ear to clamp it together, to prevent refilling of the hematauma. after a period of time, we would remove the buttons. (local anathesia). to prevent reoccurrance, make sure the dog is treated for fleas, ticks and against flies that would casuse hm to constantly shake his head also mites. i had a boxer that had both ears this way in spite of all treatments. he was just a strong head shaker.. our female boxer never had.