i know the tympanum... it wasn't inflamed last week when i went to the doctor (friday morning, just before the storm blew in) for a bad case of 'swimmers ear'-an inflamation of the outer ear canal.
(i go to a water aerobics class ever week--so i am in a pool all winter long)
i still taking ear drops and oral antibotics, but the swelling has gone down, so i can hear with the ear again, and the discomfort (i never got to a real painful stage)is largely gone.