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My Bulldog's ear flap swelled again after draining. Will it heal?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | English Bulldog | Male | neutered | 7 years and 11 months old | 78 lbs

had blood taken out of our Bulldog;s ear flap with a syringe to reduce swelling but some swelling returned after a day (not as much but it is swollen a bit. Will it heal on it's own eventually?.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on March 16th, 2018

This is a very difficult condition to treat. Othematomas can occur when the dog scratches his hear a lot or shakes the head a lot (often because of a mite infection or other ear infection) or other trauma...There are several ways of treating othematoma. One is to remove the blood via syringe and to instill a corticosteroid, It is likely to fill again and will often need a second or third time emptying, Another way is to empty the hematoma and sew in a little catheter and attach a bag to collect blood and serous discharge,and hope the blood vessel stops bleeding. The third method is to fix the problem with surgery. Often the dog;s ear will cripple some, but this will not impair its function.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Dr. Heidi DVM, CVA, CCRT, CVTP, CVSMT, CVCH

    Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist, Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner

    Published on

    What you may be describing is an aural hematoma. It occurs when the ear flap fills with blood. We often recommend surgery to drain the blood and create scar tissue to prevent it from filling again. Sometimes it can be managed with draining and bandaging to prevent it from refilling. If it is not treated, the blood will eventually go away, but the ear flap may be scarred. I am attaching a handout below with more information. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=566 Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

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