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Does my dog's ear hematoma truly require surgery for treatment?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | American Bulldog | Male | unneutered | 5 years and 10 months old | 105 lbs

Hi, my 6 year old American bulldog has an ear hematoma and the vet wants to do surgery...I was wondering if something like that really does need surgery?

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT

Licensed Veterinary Technician

Published on July 15th, 2019

Surgery is the "gold standard" for addressing aural hematomas. Draining it with a needle and syringe may provide a quick fix, but more often than not the ear refills with blood. Allowing it to resolve without treatment may take weeks and could lead to a deformed ear flap. Surgery can be done to clean out the clotted blood and stop the bleeding. A specific suture pattern is used to keep the ear flap from refilling and in shape. The underlying cause, usually ear infection, should be addressed as well to prevent excessive head shaking.

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    Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on August 6th, 2017

    No, no serious effects but certainly aural hematoma could get worse detaching more skin from ear cartilage. Procedure might get more complicated with time. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

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    Answered By Daniela Jessen, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on December 28th, 2018

    If left alone, an ear hematoma will be quite uncomfortable and maybe distressing while the buldge is big but will resolve by itself. The fluid will be re-absorbed back into the body and the earflap will no longer bulge. The problem is that a lot of scarring is associated with this process and the ear is often not cosmetically appealing afterwards - cauliflower ear. Resolution of a large hematoma can take up to several months to completely resolve.

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Related Questions

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My dog and I just came from vet where he had a hematoma in ear flap drained. Vet said that it will most likely fill up again and scheduled surgery for Tuesday. He had no ear infections but vet said probably had allergies. Gave us Apoquel script. I gu
Poor Bodie! Your vet is correct, typically aural hematomas do fill up again, and your vet would have drained it to provide comfort to him. They are uncomfortable to the dog. The surgery is necessary to prevent it from filling up over and over so you don't have to keep bringing him back in to get it drained. I hope this helps!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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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?.
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.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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Hi, I have an older bulldog with an ear hematoma. She does not have any ear infections, she did this tearing up a pillow. We don't want to risk surgery due to the dogs age and honestly could not afford it the surgery either. We have drained it 3 time
These can be so frustrating for pet parents and veterinarians alike. Eventually it will resolve and scar down on its own leaving the ear looking more crumpled than the other one. The only problem with this is that sometimes this can take weeks and the ear is sometimes uncomfortable. If you monitor just make sure the ear is not bothering her and you can talk to your family vet about having some pain meds on hand to use as needed. Did your family vet try placing an indwelling drain that can be drained at home until it scars down? A veterinary dermatologist is likely to be able to provide the best technique for this as they deal with these a lot. I hope this helps and thank you for using Boop by Petco!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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We live in the bush far from a vet and our dog has a ear hematoma, any thoughts in what we could do for the dog or should we just give it time to mend itself? Thanks Mark.
It will eventually resolve, bit may leave the ear flap deformed. The underlying cause is typically an ear infection (bacterial or fungal). This usually requires prescription medication to resolve. Using an OTC ear cleaner may help, but may not completely resolve any infection. Place an e-collar (cone) on him or her to prevent rubbing or pawing. The gold standard for treatment is surgical while concurrently treating the underlying infection.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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My dog is affected by Aural hematoma. Surgery was done for the first time followed by incision . Again it recurred in same ear for the third time. Is it possible to cure this ? If yes, which should I choose to do? Please help me with it
I would recommend to treat it medically with a long course of prednisolone, i personally have excellent results with this protocol. it is also very important to treat the ear infection that is making your dog scratch and shake his head, without treating it it will keep coming back.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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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.
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 r
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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What is the treatment of dog ear hematoma ? Also if it left untreated to heal on it's own on German shepherd dog I know it take long time to heal so after healing own it's own on the ears of German shepherd then after healing completely will my dogs
Thanks for using Boop by Petco! 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!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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My beagle has a hematoma in his ear flap. No signs of ear infections whatsoever. Believe it's from my lab grabbing his ears when they play around. He is 12 years old and I really dont think he would do well with surgery. Am I safe to leave it beside
Hello, I am sorry to hear about Sprocket. Hematomas form secondary to trauma to the blood vessels in the ear - sometimes due to head shaking secondary to ear infections, or rough play. Hematomas are quite uncomfortable due to the swelling present and if untreated can progress. If this is the first time Sprocket has had a hematoma, your veterinarian may be able to treat it more basically, without a full surgical procedure. They may be able to drain the hematoma under sedation. I would recommend having Sprocket seen by your veterinarian so that they can examine the ear and discuss possible treatment options. Hope this helps, good luck!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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my dog had an haematoma on his ear 2yrs ago and had an operation to cure this. It has now reoccurred. Why is this.My dog is a black lab and is 13yrs old.
Ear hematoma occurs due to an ear infection, your dog is probably quite prone to this type of infection. when such an infection occurs some dogs shake their head violently which causes the ear hematoma. There is a medical treatment for ear hematoma (steroids for 1 months), in my experience it is as successful as the surgery.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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I have a 6 year old golden retriever Remi who has a hematoma in one of his ear flaps. Have made an appt. I am worried about him going under general anesthesia, but will do what's best for him. Anything I should ask his vet? Should I suggest the proto
Your dog will only have to go under anesthesia if the veterinarian decides to fix the othematoma surgically by opening it , draining it and reattaching the skin to the cartilage. the danger of a conventionally treated othematoma with draining, instilling steroids and hoping it goes away, is that the ear may become crippled, and/or (often) the it will refill with blood and may need to be drained several times. It is very important to find the underlying cause of the hematoma, such as an ear mite or other ear infection and also treat that. Your vet should discuss all options with you. Anesthesia nowadays is very safe.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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