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Why is my dog's ear swollen like a balloon and head lopsided?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | 36 lbs

Why is my dogs ear bloated ...like a balloon, and she cant seem to keep her head straigh it keeps going lopsided on the side of her bloated ear.. what should i do??

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Daniel Fonza, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on June 24th, 2018

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Lucky seems to have developed an aural hematoma, which occurs when the ear is traumatized and a blood vessel is broken open inside the ear flap leading to a balloon of blood essentially. This typically needs to be drained to be treated. The cause is likely due to a severe ear infection. I cannot even tell where the opening of the ear is due to the severe swelling. In addition to the ear problem, I can see that poor Lucky is dealing with a severe skin allergy / skin disease as he is missing a lot of skin on his neck and the skin also appears to be lichenificated (thickened like elephant skin). I would strongly recommend having a veterinarian take a look at Lucky for the ear problems and also the severe allergies he suffers from. There are many options to help treat allergies in dogs such as Apoquel, Cytopoint, Atopica, etc. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

Answered By Dr. Dayna, DVM, CVA
Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist
Published on January 9th, 2018
It sounds like Foxy propbably has an aural hematoma. These are usually caused by an ear infection and then they shake their head so hard that blood vessels burst inside the ear flap and they ooze and create a big blood filled pocket. These can be very painful, which is why she is tilting her head. Also the possibility of an ear infection may be causing the head tilt as well. I would highly encourage you to have her seen by a veterinarian to address the likely infection. Some veterinarians will do surgery on aural hematomas, but most will just drain the blood, treat with steroids and treat the underlying infection and in time it will resolve. However, this can take some time. Best of luck and I hope she improves soon. In the meantime here is an article on using benadryl in dogs.
https://www.petcoach.co/canigive/dog/benadryl/
This may make her ear less itchy. Thank you for using Pet Coach.
2Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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My dog's ear is swollen with a large lump. Is it a hematoma? What now?

This is actually filled with blood. This is a hematoma between the skin layers in the ear flap. They develop when dogs scratch or shake their heads excessively, usually from an ear infection or some type of allergy. Generally this requires a veterinary exam and surgical drainage. They will also check Dozer's ears to see if they are infected or try to find the cause of the hematoma. He will need to wear a cone probably until the ear heals. Without treatment the ear swelling will go down but it may take a month or more and the ear will scar up and become deformed. This can be uncomfortable and there is a risk of infection so I recommend veterinary treatment soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Dozer.

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Hello. This is an aural hematoma. A few blood vessels in Grumpy's ear ruptured either from vigorous head shaking or scratching, or somehow injuring the ear from playing ( perhaps a playmate grabbed the ear ? ). You do want your vet to take a look at this in the next few days to make sure there is no underlying ear infection. If not then you have two choices. One is to leave the ear alone & the blood will be reabsorbed ( the ear will not pop ). When this happens, the ear may heal with a bit of a crinkle to it, but will be perfectly usable to Grumpy. The other option is surgery to drain the blood & suture the ear so that it does not refill with blood. The downside to this is of course the surgery, cost & the small possibility of a complication such as an infection. So do not worry about the ear, do not try & drain the ear yourself, & have your vet take a look soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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