Unraveling the Secrets of Hanging Deaths: A Close Look at Ear Findings

When someone dies from hanging, figuring out if they died before or after being hung is super important. Usually, experts look at things like injuries, bruises, and the mark left by the rope. But there's a catch: no single sign can say for sure if the hanging caused the death or happened after. This is where the ears come in. The tympanic membrane, or eardrum, might hold clues. In a recent study, researchers checked the eardrums of 30 people who died by suicide from hanging. They also looked at 15 other cases that weren't hangings, to compare. What they found was pretty interesting. Almost all of the hanging cases had blood in the middle ear, called hemotympanum. A couple of these cases also had blood coming out of the ear, known as otorrhagia. But none of the non-hanging cases had any of these issues. The study suggests that looking at the eardrum with a simple tool called an otoscope could be a helpful extra step in figuring out if a hanging caused the death. It's not a perfect solution, but it's a start. The changes in the eardrum didn't seem to depend on things like age, sex, or how the hanging happened. This means the findings could be useful in a lot of different situations. However, it's important to note that this study is just a beginning. More research is needed to confirm these findings and figure out how reliable they are. But for now, it's a step forward in understanding the complexities of hanging deaths.