Apparently, ear infection isn’t just for kids. I am on topical antibiotics and hearing is muffled. Any chance I will be partially deaf for life? Anything I can do at this point to prevent it? I am seeing an ENT doctor as soon as one becomes available, in about three weeks at the earliest.
Usually ruptured eardrums do heal over. There might be a small amount of scar tissue on your ear drum depending on the size of the rupture. This could reduce somewhat the elasticity of your ear drum and might…note…might affect your hearing.
I would expect you to make a full recovery….but my experiences are mostly with the pediatric population.
@aunt_bea your thoughts?
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I am guessing healing takes longer as you age. I must have been naughty somehow to get a child’s malaise. 
Exactly^
I just did an adult consult on something similar. (My best friend and college roommate was studying audiology) so I was asked about speech.
In this particular case, impacted cerumen had attached to the eardrum and was incorrectly removed leaving a significant laceration.
Because of a laceration or rupture, the eardrum can’t receive that information and vibrate normally through to the inner ear. I suspect this is why your sound is muffled.
Sound is like a train and it’s attached cars. I’m going to summarize it, really fast, in the way that I explained it to my little ones parents’. It’s better with pictures.
Typically, sound enters your ear and the eardrum receives it, indicating that an auditory signal has arrived.
The eardrum vibrates and moves the sound, (middle ear) by pushing against three tiny small bones-the malleus, incus and stapes- these “push” the signal against the inner ear’s round window to the cochlea.
The inner ear converts the sound from a mechanical “push” to an “electrical” push via little hairs (scilia) in the cochlea that move electrically sending a message to the temporal lobe of the brain.
If you are concerned about your hearing, your primary MD may want to schedule a hearing test, via bone conduction only, which won’t impact your eardrum (tympanic membrane). The electrodes (small plastic tapes) are attached above the neck and behind the ear. They are non invasive and easy to place.
The computerized hearing tests that they do now are absolutely amazing (versus when I studied it decades ago). This can be done prior to your appointment. It should be covered by your insurance company.
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@aunt_bea is there any reason to believe this eardrum won’t heal?
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No, fortunately the ear drum is regenerative and hearty for recovery.
My only concern would be the scarring behind the eardrum to the middle ear, because that will always be an issue if there is significant scarring impacting the movement to the ossicles (the “tiny” bones).
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The ER practitioner who saw said my ear drum is “lifted” at the bottom. Does it mean anything?
I’ve never heard the term “lifted” but again, this is not my specialty. I’m speech. I am assuming that the ER doctor meant that the rupture may have been at the bottom.
Did he indicate the “coloring” of the ear drum? The eardrum is pearly white, opaque and almost grayish in color. At a recent conference, I got to see and compare the eardrum in many adults. Smaller than what I had envisioned when I studied it.
If it looked pink, at the time of your ER visit, I suspect you had a mild ear infection that pushed the eardrum out. The eardrum is paper-thin; in adults our age, a change of altitude, yawning harshly, or sleeping with some pillow types can adversely affect the ear drum’s homeostasis.
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Oops! Nevermind! Silly me! You did say that you had an ear infection in the title!
They said it was red but I think they were referring to the ear, not the ear drum. Yes, I think the infection pushed the ear drum.
I ruptured both of my eardrums when flying while pregnant, it was awful. At first it was just muffled hearing and then I got vertigo for weeks. Once it healed my hearing returned, but I still can’t dive deep underwater and struggle with vertigo inducing activities that involve drops like roller coasters, tubing, etc.
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My sister had a major ear infection and rupture as an adult (although younger, say 30-35). She did recover. It was at a time she traveled a lot for business and she was grounded for about 6 weeks. She loved that! She didn’t loved that she couldn’t go to the mountains because of the change in altitude, so no skiing for most of that year.
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