# aural hematoma...healing time



## Jim Leon (Jan 21, 2010)

My dog got an aural hematoma...fancy word for a bruised ear.
She banged it hard against a tree, no cuts or bleeding.
It started swelling so I took her to the vet for opinion.
He advised to not do anything as it was not an open wound and it wasn't affecting the dogs hearing.
He said a surgery could be done for cosmetic reasons but that after about a week the internal bleeding would stop and then the swelled blood would get re-absorbed.
The ear might have a crinkle in it after but it would not affect the dog's hearing or health.

My question to the forum is...as you can probably guess, has anyone had experience with this and how long did it take for the swelling to go away?

Thank you.

Jim Leon


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

bummer
but be glad its a dog problem

if it was for a kid, they'd probably doubt your story and start an investigation for possible abuse


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

never heard of this type of problem, and not that it matters, but i find it hard to believe the statement about no hearing loss unless the dog already had a baseline aural exam and it was monitored over time, etc

what sort of aural exam was given ??
- had the vet seen this type of injury before ??


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## mel boschwitz (Apr 23, 2010)

One of our police dogs got this. It happened several times I believe. I think they drained it. I'm not sure if the draining had any influence on him getting it multiple times.
I never heard that he had any known hearing loss.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

The mom of one of my dogs had a drop ear because of a hematoma.

Since she was imported with it I don't know what happened or if any effort was made to fix it.


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## Sarah Platts (Jan 12, 2010)

One of the family dogs had this issue. The vet at that time (late 60s) said that once the ear leather splits it was 50/50 whether or not it would heal back together. It ended up being a chronic thing with this GSD. Yes, the blood would reabsorb and look good but let the ear leather get whacked by something and it would develop again. We tried draining it and such but didn't make a difference on whether or not the thing healed. Someone suggested suturing the two sides together but didn't solve it either. We just ended up leaving it alone and let it do it's own thing. Doesn't help you much but that's been my experience with this.


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