My dog has a painful ear bump. Is it a hematoma? Should I see a vet?

This is actually filled with blood. This is a hematoma between the skin layers in the ear flap. They develop when dogs scratch or shake their heads excessively, usually from an ear infection or some type of allergy. Generally this requires a veterinary exam and surgical drainage. They will also check Dozer's ears to see if they are infected or try to find the cause of the hematoma. He will need to wear a cone probably until the ear heals. Without treatment the ear swelling will go down but it may take a month or more and the ear will scar up and become deformed. This can be uncomfortable and there is a risk of infection so I recommend veterinary treatment soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Dozer.

Thank you for the picture and clarification. This looks like it could be an aural hematoma, which is when fluid gets trapped between the layers of the ear. This is usually a sign of an ear infection. I'd have this checked out by a vet.

This lump/bump/growth should be ideally examined by your local vet to have a diagnosis established. Your vet may want to perform an FNA (fine needle aspiration) or a biopsy to sample the bump and determine its underlying nature. Differentials would include skin cysts, infections, benign or more malignant type of tumors. Hope this answer was helpful, but 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. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

Hi there. I can't say for sure without being able to examine him, but what you're describing sounds like an aural hematoma - this is basically a pocket of blood in the ear flap. It's usually caused by the dog shaking his head or scratching at the ear due to an underlying ear infection or other problem, which can cause a blood vessel in the ear flap to tear. If he does have an aural hematoma, this can either be surgically drained by your veterinarian, or managed with anti-inflammatory medication and time until it eventually resolves on its own. I would recommend taking Herbie to the vet when you're able to, to confirm the diagnosis and see what your veterinarian suggests as the best course of action.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Mac! It sounds as though Mac has an Aural (ear) Hematoma. Ear hematomas results from a break in the ear cartilage or a bleeding vessel that causes blood to fill up in the ear pinna. Most commonly this is due to shaking of the head due to an ear infection from yeast or bacteria. Seeing that Mac is an English bull dog and this breed is very predisposed to ear and skin infections that is very likely the cause. Mac needs to see a Vet to have his ears checked, medicated ear drops and ear flush need to be prescribed. As for the ear hematoma there are many options for treatment: either medical management with steroids or surgery. Your vet will discuss the best choice for Mac. I hope this helps and I wish Mac a speedy recovery!

That does look to be a mass. A mass is a collection of cells and can be benign (inflammation, cyst, some tumors) or a malignant tumor. Given the age of your dog this may be a histiocytoma, but as many skin tumors can look alike the best plan to confirm this is for your vet to perform a needle aspirate for cytology. That way you will know for sure if this can be monitored or if it needs any therapy. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

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.