Because ear cancer is rare and patients don’t always report the symptoms, doctors sometimes overlook it. You should know what signs to watch for to bring it up promptly to your doctor. If you don’t agree with your doctor’s diagnosis, you can seek the opinion of additional medical professionals for confirmation. In Georgia, you could sue a doctor for medical malpractice if they fail to diagnose you with skin cancer before it turns into ear cancer.
Symptoms of ear cancer
Ear cancer usually starts as skin cancer on the ear. When ear skin cancer goes untreated, it may develop into cancer not only in the ear but also in other parts of the body. Early signs of ear cancer include white bumps on the outer ear and a scaly patch of skin around the ear. Other symptoms of ear cancer are ear pain, hearing loss, blood or drainage from the ear and facial weakness and paralysis.
Whether a doctor in Georgia failed to diagnose you or misdiagnosed you, you might have a medical malpractice case. When doctors don’t provide the standard of care in diagnosing and treating your health conditions, the law sees this as medical malpractice. Being dismissive of your symptoms could make your doctor liable for your medical costs plus pain and suffering.
Types of skin lesions and cancer on the ear
Squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma and melanoma are potential types of ear skin lesions and cancer. Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common type of ear skin cancer. You may have scaly patches of skin, open lesions and rough, thick patches of skin. The scaly patches might look like warts, bleed or crust over.
Basal cell carcinoma may cause red patches, shiny bumps, open sores or pink growths. In people with dark skin, the skin growths are black or brown. Skin growths with this type of cancer usually grow slowly and stay within their primary site. If basal cell carcinoma remains untreated for a long time, then more serious health conditions like tumors in the inner ear, temporal bones and other surrounding areas may occur.
Strange scaly patches of skin and bumps near or on your ears could mean that you have skin cancer. It’s important that you go to a doctor and keep an eye on the symptoms. If they don’t clear up with treatment, your doctor may have misdiagnosed you.