Ear, cauliflower
Ear, cauliflower: An acquired deformity of the external ear to which wrestlers and boxers are particularly vulnerable, due to trauma. When a blood clot (hematoma) forms under the skin of the ear, the clot disrupts the connection of the skin to the ear cartilage. The cartilage has no other blood supply except from the overlying skin, so if the skin is separated from the cartilage, it is deprived of nutrients and dies. The ear cartilage then shrivels up to form the classic cauliflower ear, so named because the tissue resembles that lumpy vegetable’s surface. Treatment involves draining the blood clot through an incision in the ear and then applying a compressive dressing, to sandwich the two sides of the skin against the cartilage.
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Ear, external: There are three sections of the ear. They are the external ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. The external ear looks complicated but it is functionally the simplest part of the ear. It consists of the pinna or auricle (the visible projecting portion of the ear), the external acoustic meatus (the […]
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Ear, foreign object in: A foreign object in the external ear canal. Foreign objects are often placed in the ear by young children or by accident while trying to clean or scratch the ear. There is often an accompanying external ear infection. Removal of an object from the ear can be very difficult and should […]
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Ear, inner: A highly complex structure whose essential component for hearing is the membranous labyrinth, where the fibers of the auditory nerve connect the ear to the brain. The membranous labyrinth is a system of communicating sacs and ducts (tubes) filled with fluid (endolymph), and it is lodged within a cavity called the bony labyrinth. […]
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Ear, internal: There are three sections of the ear. They are the external ear, the middle ear, and the internal ear. The internal ear is far and away the most highly complex. The essential component of the internal ear for hearing is the membranous labyrinth, located inside the bony cochlea, where the fibers of the […]
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