My dog's ear hematoma is healing. Can I speed up the process?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! You may be referring to ear hematomas. This is usually treated with a relatively simple surgical procedure. However, it is hard to know without being able to see this. I would encourage you to contact your veterinarian to let them know that he has not improved to see if that is something that seems likely based on their examination. Good luck!

It's possible that it will go away on its own in the next 2-4 weeks, but there will be some scar tissue that builds-up under the skin - maybe like the other ear appears. It's also possible that it will grow to fill the whole ear, or get infected. If it grows and/or is not going down in the next 2-4 weeks, then it's best to take Opal back to the vet. The vet will be able to drain it and can do a different procedure to keep it from swelling back up again (these often swell back up after they are drained). The steroid injections only work in about 70% of the cases and unfortunately it didn't work for Opal. There is really not much you can do for this at home that is very effective. You can try applying ice to the ear for 15 minutes 2-3 times daily and can also attempt to bandage it, so it's not continually being shaken. Below is a link to a good video that shows how to bandage the ear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FQ0JopKfY0 I hope that helps and Opal gets better soon.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There are a variety of ways to treat an ear hematoma in dogs (oral medications, draining it and instilling a medication, or a surgical "tacking", as well as determining what the underlying cause for the hematoma is). They do need to be treated by a veterinarian, as they do not typically resolve on their own, and can become very painful/infected. After treatment, the ear may be the same, or it may have a "crinkled" appearance. I would recommend your dog be evaluated by a veterinarian to determine what treatment plan would be best. Good luck!

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. This is ear hematoma, most likely self-inflicted by Moose by excessive scratching or rubbing the ear. There are no remedies that you can use at home to help, I am afraid. Moose should be seen by your local vets again to drain the ear and ideally, place some stitches on the ear to avoid recurrence.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is difficult to know based on these pictures. However, it does sound severe. This may be due to an atypical ear hematoma. But it could certainly be something else like an abscess or growth. This warrants a re-evaluation so this can be sampled and treated. If it really is a hematoma then surgical intervention may be needed. Good luck and have a good night!

I'm sorry that Remy had a hematoma in his ear! Unfortunately, there is really nothing you can do at home to treat this problem - it will eventually go away on its own, but this can take several weeks in some cases and may cause some scarring or disfigurement of the ear. I do not recommend attempting to drain it at home, as this often introduces infection and makes the problem worse. Your vet can surgically repair the hematoma, or may prescribe a steroid or other medication to help it heal faster if you opt not to do surgery - so it would be a good idea to take Remy Martin in for an exam if you are able to. In many cases, affected dogs also have an ear infection or other underlying problem that needs to be diagnosed and treated as well.

Hello, thank you for using PetCoach. So sorry Sarge is having this issue. You are correct, the recovery from the hematoma surgery is long - like 3 to 4 weeks - and the hematoma can return. I would not consider the surgery or the post-op portion to be overly painful, just very uncomfortable. There is no way to know what will happen unfortunately. It would be great if we all had crystal balls! Hematomas will often resolve on their own if they are small. If the hematoma is large then it is less likely and surgery is needed. Hematomas do take a long time to resolve on their own (usually months). Of course it will never resolve if he keeps traumatizing the ear by shaking his head or scratching at it. If this is a problem, you may want to consider getting him an ear sock (SurgiSox) to protect the earflap. It looks a bit silly but it really helps. ( https://www.dogleggs.com/surgi-sox-aural-compression-bandage/ ) I would not say there are any health risks associated with leaving it alone to see if it will resolve on it's own. Personally, I would try the sock for a few weeks and see what happens. Hope this helps. Best wishes.