For Coloradans, pets are super popular, especially dogs. In the past month, I have seen a number of patients with pet hair stuck in their eardrums. Usually, this is not a common occurrence.
What happened?
Well, what can happen is that if a pet sleeps in your bed or sheds a lot, pet hair on your pillow case can shift a singular hair into the ear canal. And then, with a bit of bad luck, it can be a stiff enough pet hair to stick in the eardrum itself! We have a camera so I was able to show patients directly what was there. They were shocked!
Symptoms may include ear fullness and tinnitus.
Treatment? Well, get the hair safely removed by a licensed professional who can see what they are doing and remove it properly. Audiologists can remove some if it is easy enough and not too deep. However, Ear, Nose & Throat physicians are going to be the provider of choice for this because they have the strongest microscopes with surgical skills.
