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Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. The tympanic membrane, commonly known as the eardrum, is a thin layer of skin stretched tight, like a drum, in the ear.
The eardrum separates the outer ear from the middle ear and vibrates in response to soundwaves. The eardrum is part of a complex system involved in the hearing process. It also protects the middle ear from debris and bacteria. Sometimes an infection may cause the eardrum to rupture. Symptoms of a ruptured eardrum include hearing loss, ear pain, itching, and fluid draining from the ear.
Usually, eardrums that rupture heal on their own. The eardrum has three layers: the outer layer, inner layer, and middle layer. The middle layer is made of fibers that give the eardrum elasticity and stiffness. Cartilage holds the eardrum in place. The eardrum covers the end of the external ear canal and looks like a flattened cone with its tip pointed inward toward the middle ear.
It is transparent and is about the size of a dime. The eardrum divides the outer ear from the middle ear. The eardrum sits between the end of the external ear canal and the auditory ossicles , which are three tiny bones in the middle ear, called the malleus, incus, and stapes. The two primary functions of the eardrum are auditory and protective.
As soundwaves enter the ear canal, they hit the eardrum, causing it to vibrate. These vibrations then move the three tiny bones in the middle ear.
Those bones then increase the sound and send them to the cochlea in the inner ear, where hair cells ripple and an electrical signal is created. From there, an auditory nerve carries the signal to the brain, where it is received as sound. In addition to helping you hear, the eardrum also acts as a protective barrier, keeping the middle ear free from dirt, debris, and bacteria. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission.
This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview Ruptured eardrum Open pop-up dialog box Close. Ruptured eardrum A ruptured perforated eardrum prevents the proper transmission of sound waves to the middle ear and leaves the middle ear vulnerable to infectious agents, water and other foreign substances.
Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Middle ear Open pop-up dialog box Close. Middle ear The middle ear includes three small bones — the hammer malleus , anvil incus and stirrup stapes.
Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Elsevier Point of Care. Chronic suppurative otitis media. Accessed June 5, Evans AK, et al. Evaluation and management of middle ear trauma. Accessed Sept. Lalwani AK. Temporal bone trauma. New York, N. Vernick DM. Ear barotrauma. Traumatic perforation of the tympanic membrane. The ossicles further amplify the sound. The tiny stapes bone attaches to the oval window that connects the middle ear to the inner ear.
The Eustachian tube, which opens into the middle ear, is responsible for equalizing the pressure between the air outside the ear and that within the middle ear.
The sound waves enter the inner ear and then into the cochlea, a snail-shaped organ. The cochlea is filled with a fluid that moves in response to the vibrations from the oval window. As the fluid moves, 25, nerve endings are set into motion. These nerve endings transform the vibrations into electrical impulses that then travel along the eighth cranial nerve auditory nerve to the brain.
In green are four rows of hair cells that respond to sound vibrations, and in red are auditory nerve fibers that convey sound information from the hair cells to the brain.
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