Suggest Treatment For Ear Bleeding And Sinus Congestion Caused By A Q-tip Injury

Posted on Sat, 23 Apr 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 23 Apr 2016 Answered on

Tue, 14 Jun 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : i accidentally poked the inside of my ear with a Qtip when my hand slipped while cleaning my ear. about 2 hours later i went to a medical clinic for another reason, sinus congestion. while i was there i noticed that my ear was bleeding so I asked the doctor to check it out, and she looked inside my ear said the membrane was not punctured. She did notice that it was bleeding but didn't really do anything with it or say anything about it. I came home and layed down for a nap and my ear was bleeding i noticed blood on the pillow. I am sitting up now and i feel it bleeding inside my ear.

Answered by Dr. Sumit Bhatti (33 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
There is no cause for worry.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thank you for your query.

1. Injury and bleeding from the delicate external ear canal skin due to a q-tip is very common.

2. If the ear drum is intact, insert a sterile cotton into the ear canal so that it lightly packs the outer ear canal and stops the bleeding.

3. Get the ear examined again.

4. Usually no treatment is required if the bleeding stops.

5. Your doctor may prescribe medication and ear drops.

I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any more questions I will be available to answer them.

Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar