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I got a hot berry through the eardrum, how long before it heals?

skyking1

skyking1

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The title says it all. I was welding under my fifth wheel trailer in an awkward position and did not have ear plugs in. Not likely I will do that again! It burned right through really quickly. I know there's a hole because of the way it's behaving and sounding. So what's the consensus? 2 weeks a month?
I had to go up over Chinook pass on Sunday two days after I did it. Nearly sea level to 5400 ft and back. I'm going up there again in less than 2 weeks but I can take my time getting up there and we're staying up at 3500 ft over the holiday weekend.
 
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56wrench

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alberta
Well, i know a welder friend who had an eardrum punctured by a hot 'berry' and he partially lost his sense of balance and had nausea for months. He was off work for about a year if i recall. I've come close but only burned my internal ear hair. And to think people pay to have it removed lol. or jam your beanie down over your ears works too if its big enough to cover them but its still not as good as earplugs
 
skyking1

skyking1

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Yikes! I punctured them before diving and also doing some really radical aviation stuff. I've heard about getting infections from them.
 
S

sled dog

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Welding one evening in '93 up under a mainline concrete paver and a molten BB did the same, right thru the eardrum. I was puking before I could get my hood up. Crawled out, stood up, fell down. Stood up, fell down. Crawled to my truck and leaned against it at my water cooler, and pushed the button on the cooler. As soon as the cold water hit it, I went down again. :eek: It healed in a couple weeks, but the steel is still there. I really, truly am a BB brain....:D
 
skyking1

skyking1

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sled dog said:
Welding one evening in '93 up under a mainline concrete paver and a molten BB did the same, right thru the eardrum. I was puking before I could get my hood up. Crawled out, stood up, fell down. Stood up, fell down. Crawled to my truck and leaned against it at my water cooler, and pushed the button on the cooler. As soon as the cold water hit it, I went down again. :eek: It healed in a couple weeks, but the steel is still there. I really, truly am a BB brain....:D
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Ouch man I don't want to be there! I might have to have an MRI someday and I don't want that BB getting pulled back out through my eardrum or worse!
 
Pixie

Pixie

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NH
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remodeling
Put a plug in your ear when you take a shower so water doesn't get in. It can cause an infection.
I used to have Dr. inflicted holes ( Pressure Equalization tubes) in my eardrums.
 
S

sled dog

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skyking1 said:
Ouch man I don't want to be there! I might have to have an MRI someday and I don't want that BB getting pulled back out through my eardrum or worse!
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Ha, MRI huh? Yeah when they see the wire in my forearm from an old hammer type cable cutter, and the spall of a 245 master pin in my belly, and the BB in the inner ear, I usually hear these words.... You no come back !!!! If scrap prices take a huge rise, pretty sure the Boss Lady will sell me....:p
 
R

Raildudes dad

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I have a lot of titanium pins and screws in my spinal column from several fusions. (getting old, no injuries). I tell my wife to cremate me and screen the parts out of ashes. Might be enough value to pay for the cremation and have a party afterwards. I just looke4d the price of medical scrap titanium. You're going to have to donate for the cremation and buy tickets for my celebration of life party LOL
 
Coaldust

Coaldust

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Holy Cow. Damn. Sorry to hear that.
My Dad did that once. He exited from underneath that log truck in 1.5 seconds, flat. It took about two weeks to heal. No issues after that.
 
J

JLarson

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Done it several times when I haven't put my earpro in before lighting off. Haven't popped a drum yet tho, just lots of sizzling lol.
 
S

stinky64

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java center ny
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skyking1 said:
The title says it all. I was welding under my fifth wheel trailer in an awkward position and did not have ear plugs in. Not likely I will do that again! It burned right through really quickly. I know there's a hole because of the way it's behaving and sounding. So what's the consensus? 2 weeks a month?
I had to go up over Chinook pass on Sunday two days after I did it. Nearly sea level to 5400 ft and back. I'm going up there again in less than 2 weeks but I can take my time getting up there and we're staying up at 3500 ft over the holiday weekend.
Click to expand...
Whatever you do don't jump into a pool or pond any time soon it'll light up your world and then there's that whole infection thing...Not personal experience, but I work with two cats that have had this happen recently.. after hearing the sizzle several times myself those 25 cent foam earplugs have saved me several times...
 
W

Welder Dave

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Maybe I'm lucky I never a ball of spatter go in my ear. With a proper welding cap, a lot of guys will turn so it protects their ear on the top side. I did have a ball of spatter get in my boot and had a 3rd degree burn. Had to go back everyday for a week (might have been longer) to have a special jelly put on it. Dr. said the last thing you want is a scab on your ankle. It would never heal. Also had hot slag drip down on the back of neck that did leave a big scab. I'm amazed it healed so well and you can't even notice where the burn was. In the ear makes me cringe.
 
DMiller

DMiller

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My Dad jumped into 'Blue Pool' outside of Alton IL in the 1930s(Large Spring alongside the MS River), busted both eardrums, even back in the day they installed plastic pieces inside his ears at the eardrums and healed over them, he was never affected by tinnitus where could hear any of us whisper at 20' at 80 years old!!
I have had slag get in my ear but never down the canal, thank God as to that as have had berries down a shoe, in a pantleg, down a shirt collar or arm sleeve, cannot even imagine.
 
D

DIYDAVE

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I had a berry hit my left ear, stick welding, standing up. I think the ear has some magnetism, for attracting spatter! Mine didn't penetrate, just landed on the ear hairs, and sizzled and sputtered out. This post brings it all back, the sizzling, the burnt hair smell, LOL!:eek:
 
Denis Bourk

Denis Bourk

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Pitt Meadows
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Muffler Bearing said:
my closest call was through the crotch of my jeans, into my boxers then out the other side :eek:
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I've always worn ear protection so never had a burn in my ear drum, have been burned pretty much everywhere else. Welding on a lowbed I was crammed in, welding with a 7018 rod, a blob landed in my lap and burned my pecker in 3 places, I told people it was a burn every 3 inches;) Put me out of commission for three weeks. the then wife looked it over pretty good, I think she thought it might be VD
 
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