What causes ruptured eardrums in dogs (both ears)?
Damage to the eardrum can occur from acoustic trauma such as direct injury or barotrauma (pressure-induced damage). Inserting cotton-tipped swabs or small objects into the ear to clean them sometimes causes a perforation of the eardrum. Foreign objects in the ear are another cause of perforated eardrum. Ear infections may cause a ruptured eardrum as the pressure of fluid in the middle ear increases. Conversely, a ruptured eardrum can cause ear infections because the eardrum is no longer intact, and bacteria can enter the middle ear. It’s hard to say what may have caused your dog to rupture both of his eardrums, but with proper treatment he should be back to normal.
