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My dog has an ear hematoma. How long until it heals and looks normal?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Female | spayed | 2 years and 11 months old | 56 lbs

My pitbull has develop a aural hematoma caused by shaking her head too often, I took her to the vet and they recomended to just leave it and prescrived prednisone and cephalexin. How long doest it take to get back to normal.

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Christie Long, DVM

Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

Published on June 29th, 2017

I'm so sorry that Julia has this problem (and she is adorable BTW). Aural hematomas typically never resolve completely on their own. If left untreated (i.e. undrained) eventually the blood that's trapped between the skin and the cartilage of the ear will be reabsorbed, assuming the ear infection (which is causing the head shaking and thus the hematoma) is properly treated. However, typically this leaves a scarred ear, something called a cauliflower ear, and this can be avoided with proper treatment. First, make sure that the medication that has been prescribed is going to appropriately treat the ear infection. That means a vet needs to do a cytology (microscopic evaluation) of the debris inside the ear. Most ear infections are fungal in nature, and need antifungal treatments to completely resolve. Then talk to the vet about draining the blood inside the ear. This may resolve the problem completely, but be prepared that Julia may need surgery to reattach the cartilage to the skin and resolve the hematoma for good.

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    Answered By Sara Farmer, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    It can take 4 weeks or longer for the ear to go back to normal. I usually recommend rechecking in two weeks to make sure everything is on the track. If she still seems uncomfortable I would recommend rechecking sooner.

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