Hematoma in ear

I have no experience with this, but I think Bubblegum had one on the side of her face last year, we were not sure what it was. But it went away after about 3 weeks. I thought they do go down by themselves.  
I'm sure someone will come along before no time to give you a good answer though!

Oh yeah, my irish Setter when he was about 10 1/2.  Was brushing him and noticed one ear was a lot "thicker' than the other and heavy.  Took him right into the vet.  My vet said usually it takes surgery, but he was going to dry to syphon the blood/liquid out.  He did and got a lot.  But two days it was filled up again, and this time he did surgery. 
 
After draining, he put gauze in the incision and I had to take it out later and every day put antibiotics inside the incision and work it down.  Seems blood had filled his entire ear flap and you know irish have pretty long ears. he never had any more problems with it.
 
My youngest son's mix also had hematoma in each ear, just about a year apart. His dog's ear were not long and actaully kinda stood up and just bent over at the tips.  The vet that did his (this like 10 years after my irish) used that glue stuff to close the incision.  They didn't have to put meds in Hank's ears.  Don't know if that was new procedure or had to do with the dogs ears .  But hank also never had it happen again.  In both cases we were told it was from shaking the head and scratching.
 
Good luck with your baby.

I see Dyan was posting as i was writing.

I haven't dealt with it with Willow but I've dealth with it twice with dogs I was pet sitting for.
 
One lab I sit for they did do the surgery within a day or so because it was the second time it had happened.  They try to drain it first and then if it comes back they will need to do the surgery.  If they drain it they will make you watch to make sure it doesn't get big again.  He'll need pain medication and also another medication, I think an antibiotic.  His got bigger in a few days, started small and then traveled all the way to the edges of his ear.

Thanks for your input. Hopefully they can just drain it - I'll see what the vet says tomorrow. It's weird because I haven't noticed him shaking his head or scratching. I wonder if maybe he banged it on something, he loves to get in between trees and under bushes on our walks at the park.

Well, so I guess I was wrong in my thinking that hematomas go away!!
Let us know what the vet says, okay?

My Frenchie boy had one many years ago, our vet WOULDN'T drain it at my request but gave me some C*** and Bull story about surgery and drains blah, blah. I personally could not drain it myself, I was afraid I would go right through the ear so I had a friend/breeder do it for ma a few days later(who DID go through his ear) she drained it twice for us and I continued to massage and put hot compresses on it. It went down and never came back.
 
It is from shaking/scratching and usually a direct "hit" on something. Our boys ear continued to stand and he has a slight crinkle to the ear but he continued to show and even got a 4 point major with the crinkle..now if I can just get the six singles he needs to finish!!!
Here is Bubba, the hematoma ear is his left one
 

My daughter's lab mix had both ears done at different times.  With the first one, a different Vet did surgery, which failed.  When her regular Vet came back, she did another surgery which she feels is more successful.  It is literally sewing the flap together using buttons.  That was one funny looking dog with all the pink buttons...LOL!  But it did work and she has had no further problems.

Awe Bubba,,,your so cute!! 

OK, well here's the update. The vet said it did indeed look like a hematoma, but since it is small (and it looks like it's a little smaller since yesterday), we're just going to keep an eye on it to see if it keeps on going down. If not, then she'll drain it. So hopefully it will resolve itself because Jack (the big baby) would be none too happy with a needle anywhere near his ear. He says thanks for your concern!

GREAT!!!!  

I know I am a little late to this discussion but just wanted to throw in my 2 cents worth.  I am not a vet and not claiming to know more than yours just relaying experiences. 
 
I have been through 4 hematomas on 3 dogs.  Two received surgery and were good as new, one received delayed surgery and the cartilege was broken in her ear so it never stood up again.  The other experience was my 2nd time with it and at that time I was using a low-cost vet clinic.  The dr there drained it twice and the second time gave her an antobiotic/cortisone shot and told me it would be fine just takes a while to heal.  It did but Lani's ear was crinkled like a cauliflower ear on a boxer and it bothered her for the rest of her life - she did not like you to mess with it or rub it.  Unless the dog is old or cannot be anesthesized I will always opt for the surgery which two weeks ago cost me $339 on a foster I will never be able to recoup. 
 
Whatever you do I hope it works out for you.

ORIGINAL: dyan

Well, so I guess I was wrong in my thinking that hematomas go away!!
Let us know what the vet says, okay?

Actually no, you are not wrong.  It really depends on the vet's experience.  My male Pyr developed a hematoma last year about the size of a silver dollar.  It took up about 1/3 of his ear  flap (to this day I have no idea how he did it).  My vet (thankfully) is very conservative and has had experience in both leaving them and doing surgery.  I opted to avoid surgery and wait it out (no needle draining either).  It did take quite a few weeks, but we just continued to keep an eye on it.  Today he has a small crink in the edge of his ear, but no major damage and nothing that can be seen just looking at him.  The body eventually can absorb it.  In my case it didn't bother him at all so it was just a watch and wait game. 

I  had a boxer pit who got one just during play (and she wasn an OLD gal - dunno how they managed that one) -- and it was quite uncomfortable for her so I drained it (myself) with a syringe (one of those weird things I keep on hand).  Several times I drained it -- it would drain and swell back up again and I kept draining it for her and she didn't mind AT ALL (seemed glad in fact). 
 
Eventually it slowed down so it wasn't filling back up so fast and eventually it totally went away. 
 
I don't like to see the surgery -- essentially they have to slit open the ear and then punch holes so it 'drains' -- and it's sore for a LONG time.  I usually wouldn't do anything unless the dog indicated it was a bother.  But draining it wasn't pleasant but it wasn't tough -- usually they are so puffy you just withdraw the copious fluid (and it's like pink water).  Now it doesn't bother ME to do such a thing for my dog, so it wasn't a problem for me and I know she appreciated it.