Monday, April 14, 2008

Tympanoplasty: Week After

About five days after the Tympanoplasty operation, I stopped taking the vicodin regularly. I had very little pain. On the 6th day, I went to a required post-operation appointment. The doctor suctioned out a little of the 'packing' (some kind of foam that they put in your ear to keep the skin graft and eardrum pressed together so they attach to each other). He also gave me some ear drops to use twice a day.

On the days that followed (6-8 days after), I start noticing how I actually hear less out of the ear than I heard before the operation. I started to notice that when I covered my good ear, I could detect some sounds with my recently-operated ear, but not all. I could hear distinct voices on the television, but they sounded really low. I'd say that one week after the operation my hearing on the operated ear was at about 25% (when compared to my non-operated on side). It also worried me that certain sounds, like the wiggling sound of our ceiling fan, I could not hear at all. I noticed that my ear detected low pitches better than high.

I also had sounds in my ear that were quite bothersome and scary. The sounds I heard in my ear the week after the Tympanoplasty can be described as:

Slight ringing sounds
Sounds that seem similar to a heart beat
Feeling/sound of blood pumping
Popping sounds
Sounds of liquid, and the sensation of having liquid stuck in my ear.

I searched the internet and read all I could about Tympanoplasty issues and learned that these sounds are referred to as Tinnitus. Many internet sites mention that Tympanoplasty patients often experience Tinnitus, which can be present for some time (no certain estimate on how long), but are rarely permanent. I didn't find any personal accounts on-line of these sounds, or how they turned out, so that was why I decided to write this blog. Not knowing if what you are hearing is 'normal' can be scary.

Today, it has been 10 days since I had the Tympanoplasty surgery. The ringing sounds have diminished, but they are not completely gone. I also noticed that when there are a lot of different sounds, such as cars and everyday street sounds, my ear hears a wall of noise and I can't pick up what my husband is saying (when he's standing right next to me and we are walking). I ask him to walk on the side of my good ear, as it's much easier to hear him that way.

I have been putting the drops the doctor prescribed for a few days now. It's kind of itchy inside my ear canal on and off, but the doctor says it's just part of the healing process. Maybe all of these funky sounds and not being able to hear well are normal, but I don't know and won't know until three weeks from now. In a few days, I have my second post-operation appointment, so I will find out of the skin graft is doing OK.

If you had a Tympanoplasty and experienced these 'weird sounds', please comment with a description of the sound, and most importantly, with the duration and outcome of them. Thanks!

98 comments:

somesh kumar said...

i have had a similar surgery and cant hear much from the operated ear. Is this normal? i hope so and it will recover in a few days. Dont worry, even i get these weird noises.On top of that unknowingly i removed the packing myself after 2 days from the operation.

Solitudinarian said...

i had tympanoplastly 5 days ago...i also hear sum weird sounds..like heart beat...sounds like pulse rate...on the first day i felt as if sumthing is bubbling inside my ear...i told my dr..he said its normal...these sounds r becoz of the packing inside the ear..ear dressing will be removed after 5 days frm now...i m worried..i wish everything would go perfect...actually yesterday i sneezed with half mouth closed...i m praying for the good...n i usually laugh..is it fine...or wat..plz do tell me...my dr just said dnt blow ur nose.rest everything is fine.

Newby Teachers said...

I had a tympanoplasty done yesterday. The procedure took 1.5hrs and I was in the hopsital from 630am-2pm. The nurses were not very helpful at all. I have the feeling of alot of fluid in my ear but I have not yet taken off the first layer of gauze but there is dried blood that has seeped out of the bottom. My instruction sheet says to call the surgeon if there is discharge or blood from the ear but everything online says it is normal for the first few days for there to be some. What did your ear feel like exactly, the day after surgery? I am not in pain yet today but there feels like alot of fluid in my ear that i feel move when I bend my head.

Ryan Hauser said...

i had a tympanoplasty 5 days ago and i get the loudest heartbeat pulses in my ear and every 10 or so beats will be a bit painful. im not on much medication though because the stuff they prescribed makes me constipated, and thats no fun.

in 2 days i have my first post-op appointments but i have no idea if he is going to remove the packing yet. for sounds if its one or two people talking to me im fine to hear but any extra ambient noise and everything sounds quite muddy and it gets really hard to hear anything proper. quite frustrating actually.

the hardest part for me is the night before my surgery i started getting a cold and throughout this week ive been trying to recover with a nasty cold without blowing my nose or coughing too much. im pretty much a mess haha.

Pankaj Gaonkar said...

I had my 2nd surgery as the earlier one failed , its almost a week now and i still have ringing in my ears.
Iam bit tensed because of ringing in the ears as its so loud that even if the fluid in my ear goes away i think i wont be able to hear properly.
will this go away , please share your experiences

Becky said...

My tympanoplastly (Type 1 i think) was 5 days ago. Since yesterday evening I have a constant heart beat sound in my ear, BUT it sounds like a womb heartbeat, like on one of those noise makes to help babies sleep. But with a bit of a "woosh" sound to it. Hard to describe.

i also of course have ringing since the surgery but ive always had that when i have an earplug in.

other than that i still have light pain around the cut wound (behind mz ear), in a random spots on my head on that side, a faint black eye and occasionally a brief sharp pain on the eardrum.

this is my 2nd surgery as the 1st one last year did not work. Last time i got an infection after the surgery and since the doctor didnt remove the packing for 3 weeks he didnt know. And i didnt know that it shouldnt hurt for 3 weeks. :( Just a tip to everyone! You shouldnt feel sharp pains in your ear for more than a week and a few days. This time i took a light antibiotic after the surgery for 5 days to be sure. I am also with a different doctor and hospital. The other was terrible!

My doctor will remove the final packing (he said) on monday. :) He seems confident. I will come back and update on how it went!

CFH_x said...

I had my surgery done two weeks ago and today the packaging got removed. it's the first day and I still can't hear much out of the operated ear, I wear a hearing aid in my right ear to help me hear better. when the packaging was in my ear, I heard some noises in my ear that woldent go away and got really annoying, that lasted about 4 days, I guessed it was normal because of the healing/packaging. I found it very hard to sleep at night as I had to sleep on my right ear. I have to go back to the hospital to get the sponges in my ear near the graft to be removed in a month. I'm really hoping this works for my ear, as I've had a lot of ear infections and time off school and really knocked my confidence. doctor says if it works for me, then he suggests I have the same operation on the right ear.

Unknown said...

I know this surgery was several years ago for you...but you never posted after 12 days...did the noises go away?

Steve said...

Hey all. I had a tympanoplasty 2 days ago. All of the sounds described here are exactly what I'm experiencing as well, so that is comforting.

What I'm worried about is the way it feels! I had a ~95% perforation and would regularly experience a feeling like air was getting sucked through my ear, especially breathing through my nose. Two days after the surgery I'm still getting this sensation, so I'm worried it didn't work at all!

Anyone else go through this?

Unknown said...

Hi! So what are your activities post op? All i do is sleep...i feel so helpless, i feel dizzy and weak, and also i throw up every time i try to stand straight. Is there anybody else out here experiencing these symptoms as well?

Samba said...

Hi
I had undergone Tympanoplasty Type-1 surgery exactly a week ago. Thank you for this blog, it is very helpful to know symptoms that are exactly being experienced by me, were experienceed and these are known symptoms and facts.

• Since two days, I am having pain on the skull, exactly half inch above the left ear. This is especially realised when I wide open my mouth to eat something.
• Feels like lot of fluid in the ear got stuck in the ear canal. while eating, if I am move my jaws, I hear something bubbling because of the liquid moving in the ear.

other symptoms like hear-beat sound. The gauze cloth with full of antibiotics are still inside my ear and I am just worried if my ear is getting infected ? Is there a chance of infection with the above symptoms ? Doctor said he would like to remove them after two weeks. Tomorrow I have an appointment with Doctor and would like to put across all my observations to him.

Unknown said...

Last week Tympanoplasty done on my ear,but like others there's no any tinnitus sound in my ear. Don't know its healing properly or not. Don't even know its a good sign or bad sign that i can't hear anything from that ear yet.

Anonymous said...

Had tympanoplasty last week. I am having tinnitus something awful right now. I had it before surgery and surgeon said it will not go away however doc that discovered I needed it did. How did you do with hearing and tinnitus?

Unknown said...

i had two surgeries a year apart, tympano and mastectomy, after the 2nd op it took about a year for the noises like tinnitus, heart beat, white noise, and im at about 16mths now and my hearing hasnt improved, i still have very mild pain most of the time, sometimes fairly bad pain, the noises arent always gone, at times the noises were that bad i wanted to rip my ear out

Anonymous said...

For Ashley - Why did you have the tympanoplasty? I am only one month since mine and I am ready to pull my hair out also. I have suffered for more than three years before they would even agree that I needed tympanoplasty. Instead did some other things that made it worse, then told me you will get used to it! Please give me some hope!

Unknown said...

hey diane,
i had the operation done due to skin cyst on ear drum, perferated ear drum, infected earing bones and crushed eustation tube from being 2mths prem, i had been dealing with chronic infections and pain uptill i was 21 before i had my first operation 2013 then 2nd 2014, just 22.
the specialist says it is perfectly healed and there is no signs of damage and audiology says my hearing has improved, but i still get discomfort, noise and i actually have no outter ear hearing improvment, even though hearing tests show mass improvment,
the pain from the operation isnt the best, you end up learbning to deal and live with it, it starts to dull down after a couple months, just try not to sit in complete silence, the wooshing noises and white noise is enough to drive you crazy, look after it dont get it wet, dirty etc, follow dr's orders and it will come good, after 3 years all up i RARELY need pain medication

babygirl89 said...

I have had 6 tympanoplasties now. I had my 6th one 3 days ago. This time it doesnt seem the same as all the others it feels like there is a lot of pressure. That sound like your heart beat is your heart beat. I always used to hear this when ill as a child. Now this time the pain has been a lot worse its the 2nd op ive had on my left ear the 1st was when they removed all the disease and gave me a new ear drum but I was no where near in as much pain. My right ear was pretty plain sailing even though i had 4 ops. I will now have to have another op on my left ear in in 2 years time as there was more disease but not enough to give me a cavity (thankfully). My hearing is almost next to perfect considering no hearing bones on left ear. But now after all this pressure and pain ive been having i am concerned that this means my hearing could be damaged. I always hear tinnitus after my ops but then i had it before them so its not unknown to me. What does annoy me is talking it hurts my ear because i can hear myself far too loudly. Hearing doesnt always improve after tympanos but thats not what the op is designed for. I was sure i was going to go deaf because my first surgeon said it was likely i were to considering how bad my ears were. I am a very lucky person. Now just to wait a wk and a half for my first appointment after the op cant wait to have the packs out as they are starting to tickle and itch my ear.

babygirl89 said...

I have had 6 tympanoplasties now. I had my 6th one 3 days ago. This time it doesnt seem the same as all the others it feels like there is a lot of pressure. That sound like your heart beat is your heart beat. I always used to hear this when ill as a child. Now this time the pain has been a lot worse its the 2nd op ive had on my left ear the 1st was when they removed all the disease and gave me a new ear drum but I was no where near in as much pain. My right ear was pretty plain sailing even though i had 4 ops. I will now have to have another op on my left ear in in 2 years time as there was more disease but not enough to give me a cavity (thankfully). My hearing is almost next to perfect considering no hearing bones on left ear. But now after all this pressure and pain ive been having i am concerned that this means my hearing could be damaged. I always hear tinnitus after my ops but then i had it before them so its not unknown to me. What does annoy me is talking it hurts my ear because i can hear myself far too loudly. Hearing doesnt always improve after tympanos but thats not what the op is designed for. I was sure i was going to go deaf because my first surgeon said it was likely i were to considering how bad my ears were. I am a very lucky person. Now just to wait a wk and a half for my first appointment after the op cant wait to have the packs out as they are starting to tickle and itch my ear.

Unknown said...

I am now three weeks post tympanoplasty. I had a 25% perforation of the ear drum with calcifications on the rest. I also have eustachian tube dysfunction. I was wondering if anyone has had feeling of pressure, decreased hearing, lots of loud popping in the ear and sounds of fluid. How long did it last. Does it go away. I hope this is not something I have to live with.
Thanks for the help.

Arun said...

Hello Everyone,

Nice to read your experiences. I too had tympanoplasty in my right ear on Dec 11, 2015 and my Doctor has said that the bandage would be removed tomorrow (Dec 18, 2015). I am too excited about it. Just like all of you, I too experienced different sorts of noises and beats. I am now taking antibiotics and in all these days, I just had only one pain killer which indicates that there is not much pain in my ear. Also, there was some kind of feeling of some liquid oozing out from the operated ear. However, my Doctor said that it was nothing to worry as this was just the result of ointment applied around the incision. He also said that the hearing results will clear after a month and half. I am sincerely hoping that I regain my normal hearing very soon.

Anonymous said...

I had my tympanoplasty two and a half months ago. Only a retroauricular myringoplasty, as no ossicular reconstruction was needed. Now the perforation is closed and healing seems to go OK. But... I can hardly hear with that ear. Before surgery I used hearing aids occassionally (TV, meetings,etc..., but not for cinema or daily life). Now even with hearing aids I can't manage. My doctor says there is still some packing inside the middle ear and also that I have to wait for the healing process to finish. But it's already 11 weeks and I am beginning to lose my confidence. Did any of you need a so long time to recover hearing?

Alex said...

I've just had one and I can't hear anything at all from the ear now. It's been about 9 days though. I just hope it improves in a few weeks...

Alex said...

Also doesn't seem that anyone's hearing had improved :/

Alex said...

Also doesn't seem that anyone's hearing had improved :/

Alex said...

I've just had one and I can't hear anything at all from the ear now. It's been about 9 days though. I just hope it improves in a few weeks...

Anonymous said...

14 weeks now (more than 3 months!) and hearing continues as very low as two months ago. The hearing loss is mainly of the conductive type, so that probably something is affecting the ossicles. On Friday I had a CT scan for the doctor to see if there is something wrong. He also said that if nothing wrong can be seen, I will need a new surgery for an inspection of the inner ear. (And I suspect that if something wrong appears in the CT scan I will also need a surgery to repair it). Well, then a new surgery seems unavoidable. But the eardrum perforation is completly closed and OK (air travel and water in the outer ear are already allowed). It's a pity that the collateral damage had been worse than the benefit.

Anonymous said...

i had my tympanoplasty 5 days ago. the op itself was fine, i was up and about straight away, i don't feel dizzy or sick or anything but excrutiating pain in my ear! it is really itchy where all the packing is inside and i can feel a pulsating heartbeat that only gets worse when i lie down. my ear feels like it is full of fluid and sometimes blood comes out of it. im really worried there may be an infection. have any of you felt similar symptoms?
thanks x

Unknown said...

I had my surgery 24 hours ago. Last night i could not fall asleep as it was so painful, but now it is much improved. I had a lot of blood coming out of my ear- I have to change the cotton in my ear every 3-4 hours. Hopefully the surgery works. I currently cant really hear anything out of my right ear. Interestingly I am experiencing no tinnitus or sounds in my ear. only when I move my jaw around I can hear the cotton rustling but no bubbling or popping sounds.

Unknown said...

Just had my tympanoplasty completed about a week ago. As far as pain, all is good. My biggest fear right now is how far away from my head my ear is sticking out. Did anyone have problems woth their ear staying stuck in a funny looking pisition? I keep being told it's swelling and will go down after a while. The Dr said it should be fine but I'm still freaking out cause its sticking out there pretty far. I'm experiencing the ringing as well but it comes and goes as well as the intensity or loudness. Some days are better than others as far as muffled, popping noises, and general annoyances. I think it's a little different for everyone and depends on what the surgery was done for to begin with. I had a perforated ear drum from a tube in my ear when I was younger. My hearing was nearly 100% prior to surgery so my expectations aren't geared towards that assuming it takes and all goes well. Sticks come out in a few more days and we'll go from there. Any comments on the ear sticking out thing would be helpful, like I said it's the one thing I'm still a little nervous about. I figured 10 days was enough time for the swelling to go down and my ear to start looking a little more nornal

Unknown said...

Just had my tympanoplasty completed about a week ago. As far as pain, all is good. My biggest fear right now is how far away from my head my ear is sticking out. Did anyone have problems woth their ear staying stuck in a funny looking pisition? I keep being told it's swelling and will go down after a while. The Dr said it should be fine but I'm still freaking out cause its sticking out there pretty far. I'm experiencing the ringing as well but it comes and goes as well as the intensity or loudness. Some days are better than others as far as muffled, popping noises, and general annoyances. I think it's a little different for everyone and depends on what the surgery was done for to begin with. I had a perforated ear drum from a tube in my ear when I was younger. My hearing was nearly 100% prior to surgery so my expectations aren't geared towards that assuming it takes and all goes well. Sticks come out in a few more days and we'll go from there. Any comments on the ear sticking out thing would be helpful, like I said it's the one thing I'm still a little nervous about. I figured 10 days was enough time for the swelling to go down and my ear to start looking a little more nornal

SharpieStories said...

Im on day 5 of tympanoplasty. First day there was a lot of pain and blood. Been mild since. Blood still present. I was told this is normal. Seems like its dripping down my throat? Y'all are really scaring me with 0 happy endings. Hope this goes okay... will keep updated.

SharpieStories said...

Im on day 5 of tympanoplasty. First day there was a lot of pain and blood. Been mild since. Blood still present. I was told this is normal. Seems like its dripping down my throat? Y'all are really scaring me with 0 happy endings. Hope this goes okay... will keep updated.

Unknown said...

Hey again guys, 4-5years after operations there's virtually no pain, every now and then something will move and hurt, the ear nearly always feels blocked and there's still no real hearing improvement unless the something shifts in the right way

Pelvic Floor Therapy Caro said...

Thank you for this article. I relate with everything you wrote even though my surgery was two days ago. If you still receive notifications from this blog, could you let me/let us know how you are doing now? As I read the comments under your article I realized all of us had a recent surgery but I would like to know how things are years down the road. I had a prosthesis put in as one of my bones was damaged but I am not sure which one yet. I know it's normal to have tinnitus and not hear properly for at least 6 weeks after the surgery but would love to know more about after those initial weeks. Is there hope for me to hear again from that ear? Thank you :)

Beck said...

I just got notified by you Caroline Henry.
My surgery was April, so 6 months on, my ear is great!!

I was worried about the placement of my ear- it's back to normal

I was worried about my hearing- it's back to a high normal range, my other ear is excellent so I can tell a difference in them but, apparently a lot of people would be happy to have the hearing I have on the surgery side, even though it seems slightly limited to me.

I was worried that it just didn't feel normal eg not popping, crackling, but sore to touch and not clearing away wax etc properly- after a few revisits to have the ear cleaned it is now back to doing its job..

All in all it's very much normal and the only time it crosses my mind is when I am washing my ears, or when I swap my phone to that side. Can't complain as the alternative wasn't so great!! It really does get much much better! I know it feels like it won't as it's such a long process but hang in there😊

Unknown said...

Had had my surgery yesterday it doesn't hurt just uncomfortable from the cup and it's beyond itchy I am nearly deaf I have hearing loss with mixed hearing loss bilateral and my right eardrum was gone he created a new eardrum from taking some of my ear lobe I haven't heard any of the noises people are talking about but I can hear alot better out of that ear now so it helped tons just hope it's healing good ..kinda worried that my experience is so different from everyone else maybe it's cause I was almost dead to start out with and have a extremely high pain tolerance from 31 years of constant ear infections ..after this I should get my hearing aids my insurance wouldn't cover them til we tried the surgeon

Unknown said...

Had had my surgery yesterday it doesn't hurt just uncomfortable from the cup and it's beyond itchy I am nearly deaf I have hearing loss with mixed hearing loss bilateral and my right eardrum was gone he created a new eardrum from taking some of my ear lobe I haven't heard any of the noises people are talking about but I can hear alot better out of that ear now so it helped tons just hope it's healing good ..kinda worried that my experience is so different from everyone else maybe it's cause I was almost dead to start out with and have a extremely high pain tolerance from 31 years of constant ear infections ..after this I should get my hearing aids my insurance wouldn't cover them til we tried the surgeon

Unknown said...

Just went trough my 12th surgery 1 week ago,seems all went well, perforated eardrum, infection, cyst behind ear drum also had middle ear titanium prosthesis put in.Hearing was very loud first day of surgery,, now my heart is beating Very Loud. Get packing out Thursday. Some pain first few days , half a Loratab as needed helped. Good to go , but at this time, not sure if I'd do it agin except for the fact cyst had to come out.

Unknown said...

I had myringoplasty in left ear on 2 november 2016,it was not hurting but i was uncomfortable bcos of packing.but since the operation i had little bleeding from my ear then after 9 days i had heavy bleeding with huge blood clots,i went hospital but they did not help me after 13 hours tge bleeing and clot stop by itself.plwase share experience if someone have.

snaylor said...

Hello everyone, really interesting to read about all of your experiences! I had tympanoplasty 1 week ago on my left ear. I suffer with patulous Eustachian tubes (they're too wide) so experience ear popping all day every day when I talk, swallow, yawn.
My left drum had somehow developed a skin pocket on it which over the years had sucked it back into my middle ear and consequently eroded some of the bone away. I needed to have this done to pull the drum forward and strengthen it with cartilage.
Since the surgery last week I've experienced on/off sharp pains and constant whooshing heartbeat sounds. It almost sounds like that ear is permanently underwater, although without any sloshing fluid sounds. I can't yet hear anything really on that side, other than my own insides like creaking and clicking bones, and this whooshing heartbeat... horrible! Plus when I talk my voice bellows through that ear so loudly, I literally don't want to speak to anyone at all!
I'm just hoping and praying all of this will subside over time as the ear heals and dissolvable packing disappears. There's no way I could cope with this for the rest of my life!!

snaylor said...

I also have a numb tongue!

Pelvic Floor Therapy Caro said...

Snaylor! Totally normal! It will go away. Hang in there! The first two weeks are the worst! :) (4 weeks and a half recovery- I had a tympanoplasty and partial ossicular chain reconstruction.)

Risoune said...

I started reading this thread a few days after my surgery and was comforted by the fact that everyone seemed to be feeling the same as me, but now a month later I thought I'd add a little to give those who are just freshly done a little hope that day by day some things get better.
The first 2 days I spent in bed. There was a lot of pressure but once i recoved the bandage most of it went away. I was nervous at the amount of discharge my ear was letting out but it was good. The first 2 weeks were the most discouraging, my tongue was numb, everything tasted like plastic, and the smooching noises were worst than before. At my follow up he removed the packing (the smell..oh my!) i thought would give me back some hearing but it didn't , he explained I had some protective foam in my ear that will eventually dissolve which is what causes the bigger popping noises when in swallow, I appreciate that sound now cause i tell myself it's dissolving everytime I hear it. Almost a month later, my tastebuds are back, and there's no pain in the ear, however my scalp is still sensitive, part of my ear is still numb, and i still get the feeling that I'm talking inside a fish bowl and my hearing is not back but everyday is better than yesterday. I have another follow up in a few weeks hopefully have some good to share to help make your next few weeks a little more bearable

jpmaurya said...

Dear All,

I had two big holes in my tympanic membrane. My hearing was falling day by day so I was quite worried. I was just thinking that may be my hearing will get worse after operation. But finally I had no option as I was feeling stressed due to less hearing during working hours and also at home. I went to meet the doctor. After looking my ear he said 95 % chance that my hearing will get better. I undergone surgery under local anaesthesia. It took about 2 hours for the surgery. After the surgery for the first three days i felt pain in my operated ear and also from the place (behind the ear) from where they took the graft.

For the first week i could hear very less from my operated ear. But i just kept patience after reading this blog that it is because of the packing behind the ear. Suddenly after 10 days my hearing began to get better. Now after 25 days I am hearing almost perfect. I was not able to hear so good throgh out my life. I protected myself from sneezing and also kept my ear always dry. if anyone sneezes , sneeze it keeping mouth open.

It is new life for me and am recommending anyone who has less hearing because of perforation in ear.

Pelvic Floor Therapy Caro said...

3 months Update (if you're interested): Tympanoplasty and partial ossicular chain reconstruction on left ear (titanium prosthesis to replace fractured malleus):

AFTER the surgery: pain, swollen ear because of the graft removal, couldn't hear anything because of packing, some discharge (normal), could hear my heartbeat and lots of popping sounds (normal), it itched a lot at times (normal), and I was dizzy for about 2 weeks, but I partially blamed it on Loratab (first week). I got water in by mistake twice when they told me to make sure not too and I freaked out but it was no problem at all since my eardrum was nicely closed after the surgeries.

NOW: I can hear! I had a hearing test 6 weeks later & everything was healed! I had recovered 97% of my hearing when I originally lost half of it! I do have a tinnitus (ghost sound) but I don't notice it unless it's completely silent around me. I call it my white noise :) I am since more careful with my ear.

Good luck! Don't die of anxiety like I did, it's not worth it! Just pray, and write your story too!

Pelvic Floor Therapy Caro said...

(Disclaimer: the % is just something the doctor made up, you don't really rate hearing with %'s. It's over 90% according to him--97% so really successful).

Stephen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Stephen said...

It's nice to see someone with similar experiences with a tympanoplasty. I've had multiple tubes for underdeveloped eustacian tubes. Both ears, twice regular tubes, and then T-hook tubes which finally left perforations, and now as an adult I'm having them closed up. First day had some pain, no discharge, but did change out cotton ball after a day. It was red and black, but ever since that its the normal ear wax stuff. Stitches, behind ear for muscle coating harvesting used for the graft. Noises such as heartbeat, popping, whitish noise here and there. Depends on which way my head is oriented, but I follow the guide to keeping this ear tilted upward toward the ceiling more than the other. Only on 11th day, was given ear drops to clear out the rest of the gunk in the ear canal. In 1 month, doc stated he'll have a clearer look to see if the ear drum fully closed and go from there. Doc said that it takes on average 4 months to regain hearing and he had one person take 9 months. If all is well with this ear as determined later, we'll go for the other one. I had tubes and perforations in both. Just patched one side up for now.

Harshal Shah said...

It's 3rd day of tympanoplasty...I hear bone clicking sound...hope graft is not dislodged....pain is not there..going to visit Ent on 7th day.

tumirobin said...

After one week Tympanoplasty surgery still i can't sleep properly due to pain in my right ear. Can't move firstly due to pain. I am worried about my after surgery result. is it ok or not. Doctor will check May 2017. How can i know is it infected or not ? have any experience you about this.

Unknown said...

Has anyone had problems with being able to eat? I can't chew or even bite down on the side where I had the tympanoplasty surgery done.

Unknown said...

Hiya. I am so glad to find theae posts.

Ive just had a right ear tympanoplasty , 25% perforated. Its my second operation but the first I think I got an infection and some of my stitches also came loose.

Its now a week and a few days after and im finally feeling a bit more grounded and with energy.
Ive been dizzy for a whole week and sick really badly when i came home after the op. That hurt alot and I was worried about the pressure excerted on my ear! Ive also sneezed once that really hurt despite having my mouth open.. just the sheer force of the sneeze got me. So i am avoiding sneezing.

Now my packing is really itchy and the end of it had dried up and it feels loose. Im trying not to touch it. But it feels like it wants to come out and my appointment is not for another week and 4 days! I might call on monday and dicuss it.

I get lots of tinitus the same heartbeart and white noise. The first week I could also hear the sound of blowing in bottles , lots of soft frequencies. The head rush sucks for yoga. No downward dog.

Ive experienced a lot of pain. After a week I was still taking pain relief 3 times a day. Im reducing it now and its manageable. Just moving my head in certain directions can cause a sharp pain.
I get this sharp nerve ending type pain just wizz in and out. Rarely which im glad and hope that just is part of the healing.

I hope my gauze is ok. I wish the doctors had more time to explain and support aftercare. I am grateful for the internet for this.

Talking does reverberate in my ear, chest and head at times but its dependable , so I hope that effect will fade.

For everyone talking about tinitus being permanent. Well I was given a leaflet by a top ear specialist and it stated tinitus is not alsways permanent. It can be meditated away. I try this and feel it working temporarily , and takes a lot of focus and each day it comes back. Im hopeful with the hole healing and some good health that it too will fade.

Unknown said...

Just 25 days back my doctor repear my ear drum through surgery under G/A. After takeout all packing I m still unable to hear like before surgery.But my doctor told me that the grafting is ok & it will take some more time to get normal hearing. He advice me to wait & gradually the hearing power will be increased....

Now I need expert comment on it.

Biplab from Bangladesh

sheikh said...

I underwent tympanoplasty through endoscopic process throgh ear canal 5 days back at Nagpur, India. It was 90 minute procedure with local anaesthesia and a bit sedation. There is no pain or bleeding. Taking antibiotic and anti allergic nasal spray to avoid sneeze. First review after two days. Will report later.

Needful Things said...

I had a Tympanoplasty done July 25th and it is now September 10th. I still cannot hear worth a crap out of that ear. Sounds are distorted. If someone is standing next to me on that side and they talk, I can barely hear them. I had the Tinnitus sounds the first couple of weeks and then they dissipated. If there is a lot of noise in the background, I can't hear what is right in front of me. If I plug my good ear to see how the sounds sound in the operated ear, sounds are faint. I could hear much better before the surgery. I got this done because I have fluid in my ear and it echoes when I talk. The echoing is much worse than it was before and very annoying. I am not sure if this is normal or not. I am not sure how long it takes for the fluid to dry up. No one seems to have an average amount of time.

Unknown said...

I had a R tympanoplasty today with ossicular chain reconstruction. I suffer from chronic otitis media and constant infections eroded my incus so sound couldn't get through. I relied on hearing aid but my hearing kept getting worse. I'm deaf on my left ear so doing surgery on my only hearing ear was risky yet necessary because I would eventually lose all hearing if untreated. My surgery lasted 2 hours, I got ear drum repaired and a prosthetic incus . It's been about 6 hours since I got home from outpatient surgery. I tried to sleep but can't . While laying down I noticed that I hear street noise and cars passing by when I couldn't before. My ear is all packed up. I hear my heartbeat when I lay down. I get lots of popping sound in my ear , minimal drainage of blood and stuff . If you look at me you wouldn't think I had a surgery today .
I'm very excited as I struggled greatly with lack of hearing. I feel that once I recover fully my hearing will improve greatly .I also wear BAHA implant on my left ,non hearing side and overall hearing is all better right after surgery. To be honest I didn't expect that to happen that quick. I worried that I'll actually lose more hearing which would be devastating . BTW, this is my second tympanoplasty. I had one on my left ear and I became profoundly deaf in left ear after tympanoplasty so imagine the fear of trusting a doctor to touch my right ear. Good luck to you all.

Unknown said...

Hey guys 2 years after my post, after about 16mths the noises have stopped, my last hearing check over a year ago said I had major hearing improvement but as far as I can actually tell I haven't, I still don't really hear people talking on that side, so at about 4years maybe near 5 later, in the last couple months smelly wax like the start to an infection has started to build up, I clean it every couple days properly.
I'm glad there's been so many good outcomes and people with near instantaneous improvements.
Good luck to all past present and future patients, I'll try to update if anything else comes up.

Unknown said...

I just went through this procedure myself 6 days ago all I experience is really really bad pain when trying to eat and violent itching about 12 a.m. every morning.

I don't hear well out of my non operated ear so it's been a struggle to comprehend what my parents, niece and fiancee are all saying to me.

I'm also a gamer who has not touched a single game on PlayStation 4 Pro in seven days.

When trying to watch the news I have to turn the volume on my 32 inch Emerson tv up to 35 to 80 depending on who is talking.

I get a painful sensation in my ear that feels like someone is using a small two directional drill.

I can not open my mouth any wider than 2.5 inches without feeling intense pain.

It hurts to eat anything soft or mildly between liquid and soft solid.

Is the violent itching and drilling pain normal along with the pain when eating speaking?

I can't take the hydrocodine prescribed because I inadvertently became physically addicted.

I caught it in time to stop before the mental addiction sat in at least but now I'm too scared to take any pain relievers.

My biological parents where piece of crap druggies.

Anyone know how long the violent itching took them to subside?

jpmaurya said...

Not more than 1 week. You will be better. Initially you will hear less but after 10-15 days your hearing will get much better as the underlying packing will dissolve.

I had tympanoplasty in my both ears and had complete replacement of my ear drum in both the ears. Now I can hear almost 100%... It was a life changing experience. Keep patience you will be fine in few days.

I did my tympanoplasty in Thailand.

Unknown said...

Same Same dude
Itching for me took ages I'd say a year and I still have itching after several years

Unknown said...

Hi, I had my tympanoplasty last October 1, 2017. I stayed in the hospital for 5 days. And after the operation everyday, they are cleaning my wound as well as the inner ear. They are using Betadine and they are using a suction machine. While in the hospital they are administering me a liquid paracetamol and antibiotics. For the final day from the hospital they cleaned and put new bandage. Then after a week is my appointment with my ENT Doctor. He cleaned it and put new gauze with ointment. I was really worried because I heard the same sounds as you guys can hear.
1. Popping sound whenever I swallow
2. Ringing sound
3. I can here my own heart louder
4. I feel dizzy sometimes
5. There is a sharp pain
6. It’s really hard to sleep at night
My doctor told me not to blow my nose but I accidentally did when my allergic rhinitis attacked.
After a week I met my doctor again and he did the same procedure. He told me that next week we will going to remove the packing inside.
The packing inside my ear is not dissolvable foams.
And just yesterday, I met my doctor and he removed the packing and cleaned it, suction some liquid in it. He put an ointment inside and a cotton to close my ear. He said it’s for protection. He gave me Ciprobay HC Otic, an antibiotic drops where I need to put it 3 drops, 3 times a day for 1 week.
And he told me I will going to meet me again next week for final checking to make sure uf the surgery is successful or not.
After removing the packing, I still can hear a popping sound. I thought it will go after removing the packing inside my ear. I hope that next week will be positive.
The doctor told me not to go for swimming and ride an airplane for 2 months. I feel much better now than a week after the surgery.
Thank you for doing this blog. We can also share our story and the road to recovery.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I have also recently had my second myringoplasty (Type I Tympanoplasty) which was on my right ear, previous surgery was on left ear. It has been a week since the operation and from experience all the sounds mentioned above are normal. I was concerned with the sustained metallic taste on one side of my tongue but that is beginning to subside day by day. I will be seeing the doctor in a week to remove the packing (non-dissolvable) and will be prescribed ear drops. The overall recovery with regards to hearing can differ but from past experiences I can assure you that the success rate is quite high. General precautions such as no water entering the ear and lack of bending will help to keep the graft in place as well as avoid infection.

Unknown said...

hi ,
i also had myringoplasy and tympanoplasty surgery on my left year one week before.
i had a bit of pain for 1st 3 days. Now no pain and am feeling absolutely normal. doing all activities normally.
my concerns are :
1. i have a skull pain above by ear.. and my scalp is sensitive. is it normal
2. my doctor instructed me not to take head bath for 6 weeks, did you have the same advice. ( if you have to take head shower what precautions you guys are taking?)
3. my ear packing will be removed on the 10 th day , that is day after. i am not expecting much complications
4. i have to report to work from 10th day, is any one driving them self and managing full day work after the surgery.

Please give me some tips on this.
thank you.

Unknown said...

I had tympanoplasty surgery on my right ear on November 3rd at St. Thomas Hospital (Nashville TN) from Dr. Mitchell Schwaber.

My rupture was 40% of my eardrum and it was caused by a q-tip. We tried paper patches for almost 6 months hoping it would heal on it's own, never did, and what did heal actually curled and had to be trimmed during surgery.

I encountered all the same symptoms with heartbeat sound, ringing, white noise, liquid sounds, popping, etc. Still have some minor pain, sharp pain every so often.

Packing is still in my ear until November 15th, today is the 13th, I can't wait.

I have no hearing at all in my left ear from qty. 2 cholesteatoma tumors and everything in my left ear had to be removed, so this is my only ear I have left.

Unknown said...

Hi I had surgery only 8 days ago the packing in the ear is driving me insane as well with the constant popping and crackling but most of all the itchiness is mad I just constantly want to scratch and itch is all this normal?? The packing has to stay in for another 3 weeks duno how I'm going to cope help

Pisherons said...

Just looking for some advice. I had tympanoplasty and mastoidectomy on 21st November (it's now 7th December). I was violently ill with food poisoning this week and I'm worried I may have perforated my ear drum.

I still have bubbling and cracking sounds but I also have periods of nothing, where I feel no pressure or sounds at all, is this normal?

Also, my ear has started discharging a little again yesterday, it looks the same as it did at the beginning, slightly brown or yellow. Is this to be expected after two weeks?

Thanks

Unknown said...

I had typanoplasty surgery 5 months ago still metallic taste real bad, cant hear, and the ringing sound is unbearable. What can I do. Dr. Dont care!

Unknown said...

Hi I had my surgery 6 days ago . I am experiencing all of these same symptoms but my ear is very swollen and numb . I can’t feel it , I know I’m touching into but there is no sensation from my skin . I dokt know if this is supposed to happen or no ?

Unknown said...

Did you experience any numbness in the entire ear ?

rajee said...

Had tympanoplasty 3 weeks ago, hearing loss ws 25% pre operation, wich is almost same , doc says graft is fitted vry nicely, but dont know wen will b able to hear like my normal right ear...any one knows pls tell...

jpmaurya said...

Rajee you will be fine in 12 days...once the packing will dissolve you will be able to hear more than before....

Unknown said...

Vicente-would you mind sharing an update? Have you had any improvement in hearing? My husband had tymplanoplasty and rebuild of small ear bone 3 months ago and still cannot hear. His ear is muffled/pressure and he always feels like it has to pop. Also has some craxkling sounds. He’s VERY discouraged and worse than before surgery. Doctor keeps saying eardrum graft is healed and it should improve but it hasn’t.

Unknown said...

I am 2 weeks post op Tympanoplasty, I am hearing this popping sound everytime I swallow. It's a bit bothering because Im suffering from it daily for day 4 now. Is it normal? My eating and drinking habits were being interrupted by the popping sound.

Unknown said...

Hi Linda TOWNSEND

SAME EXPERIENCE WITH ME.I HAD ALSO DONE SURGERY TYMPANOPLASTY WITH MASTOIDECTOMY ON 21 FEB SINCE IT WAS 3 MONTHS AGO I CANT HEAR GOOD LIKE BEFORE & MY EAR IS RINGING HEAVILY.IN MY EAR CANAL THERE IS GELFOAM .DOCTOR SAID ME THAT AFTER 6 MONTH TAKE HEARING AUDIO GRAM TEST TO KNOW THE RESULT.IS THERE ANY EXPERIENCE PLEASE LET ME KNOW MORE

Thanks

Wan said...

I had tympanoplasty on may 23 to remove glomus tumor from right ear. Since my right ear is filled with packing im noticing that my left ear is feeling full off and on. Im also hearing a dull consistent noise from the left ear almost like a form of low pitch tinnitus. Could this be that the left ear is feeling residual effect from right ear. Please help as this is making me extremely anxious because I'm fearing that something is happening to the left ear. I'm so scared. Please pray for me.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

It been 9 days after Tympanos. Before this I had about 30% perforation of the eardrum. On 3rd January 2018 my right ear suddenly went clogged for unknown reasons and I went to hospital immediately. ENT specialist identified that I was having an urgent Otitis Media. (first time in my life, no previous hearing or ear problems at all) After removing the discharge, I was told that my eardrum was perforated. I was like WTF? I didnt even know since when the perforation had been there. After several months the eardrum wouldnt heal on its own, I took tympanos. On the first 4 days after the surgery, I didnt feel anything at all tbh. No pain, no tinnitus (just heard slight heartbeat or pulse sound when its very quiet), no thowing up etc. However on the 5th day, I started hearing popping sound in the ear everytime I chewed and the pulse sound in the ear had increased. On the 6th day everything went back normal again, I revisit the doctor and had the packing removed but still got some left in the deepest part which was to be removed on Day14 according to him. In these several months when I was suffering from eardrum perforation, I underwent some hearing tests and my result was 10-25 dbs on the perforated ear (which is still at the bottom line of "normal") Im really happy as the doctor told me that my hearing will most likely improve and go back to 0-10dbs when Im fully recovered. Will update again, good luck to everyone of us!

Unknown said...

I have really valued reading through these comments to get a sense of what my 8 year old experiences! He's on his 5th eardrum grafting procedure. He had a 50% eardrum loss due to really shoddy ear tube ENT work and removal on one side and 25% on the other. They used T Tubes, which really can cause a lot of damage. On top of that when they removed the tube on the worse side and we went for follow up no one told us the entire back side of his ear drum was missing. He was 3.5 years old and we had immediate developmental regression, started immediate PT/OT therapy with head scratching results until we had a follow up surgery to remove the other ear tube. When my son went back to begin the removal I asked the surgeon (a new one in the practice )to access the other ear. She asked about the large gaping hole on the other ear drum! At our follow up the head of the practice came in, who I had never met, to tell us it wasn't a big deal and we could fix it 5 years but my son wouldn't be able to submerge his head unprotected in water. In his words, he'd seen worse.

We changed to a hospital/research based ENT group and if you are on this thread and have had multiple graphs/tubes or other procedures I would highly recommend you do the same. After my son’s third attempt on his right ear he experienced a very severe long lasting ear infection that has been present for nearly a year, it caused him to switch from being left handed dominant to right hand dominant among other changes. These sensory changes have been a yearly and constant issue since he was 3.5 years old. When we first went to our hospital based ENT 5 years ago OT/PT for kids was different than it is now and the knowledge and acceptance that for some people inner ear issues are more impactful to someone's quality of life and the connections in their entire body was just not discussed or acknowledged. Pediatric OT/PT’s often want to know when your child is first evaluated if they have a history of inner ear issues. On the flip side when I first brought up my suspicion of the connection between my son’s every changing damaged ears and behavior issues to our ENT and pediatrician, both of whom I trust and value, they dismissed the connection between sensory/behavioral changes in our child and his ears with statements like well they (OT therapist) aren’t doctors. This has really changed in the last few years and being that our ENT is co-located at a hospital with OT/PT and speech therapy and is a research doctor out there producing medical journal work is part of that. We decided when the 3rd attempt tympanoplasty on the right failed and our Children's ENT said to us that the likelihood of future success is getting is getting really low and with the long term infection we were no longer looking at procedures to help with hearing to get a second opinion at John Hopkins in their adult neurotology group. They told us we that being at hospital like the one we are at was our child’s best chance for success, they have the latest and greatest methods not often available at private groups.

Unknown said...

Part 2:
I say all this to this thread to say that if you are at a private practice and have had more than one repair attempt on the same ear get a second opinion at a research hospital group. Prior to moving to a hospital group we were at the premier private group in our area and they assuredly wouldn’t have been able to handle the complexity of my son’s case. They also with all their fancy offices and swanky outpatient surgery centers wouldn’t have had access to the equipment our current ENT uses to access and repair my son’s eardrum and ear canal.

We are nearly 10 days out since my son’s last procedure, it was only a 4 hour surgery and we’re hoping for the best but I know that due to length of time his infant T-Tubes stayed in place and created an enlarged hole he already had a weakened eardrum and long term success rates go down with every attempt to repair. This feels like our last repair without a really radical procedure. Good luck to you all and I hope your most recent ear procedure is your last!

Tiffany Fowler said...

I just had surgery today and I am also experiencing no sounds in my ear. I am worried that it is not working because everyone else has noisies

Tiffany Fowler said...

Hey I just a tympanoplasty 3 days ago and I too hear no sounds. I know this is a old blog but how did your survey go!

Unknown said...

Hi..i had my left ear typano plasty 11 weeks ago...i got my hearing back 70%.but still i can hear some sounds especially when swallowing.i did flight travel, no issues with that.to avoid get water into the ear you can your glycerine soaked cotton in the ear.I hope i will get back my ear like before.

Unknown said...

I had my ear surgery 3 days ago. My main concerns right now is a loud heartbeat in my ear, tastebuds are almost nonexistent and right side of tongue is numb. It worries me that it will never come back. I will see further down the road afterall its only been 3 days.

Unknown said...

Hi all, had tympanoplasty and ossiculoplasty on 1st August, 10 days ago! First week suffered severe dizzyness and feeling sick. Had quite alot of dark blood coming from the ear canal, apparently that's normal. I'm not due back to see the clinic until 22nd August (3 weeks after op) . Really starting to itch like crazy now. Hopefully the op has been a success as I couldn't barely hear through it before. I'll update after removal of packaging

Unknown said...

I had my ear surgery 8 months before. The graft is but now i cant hear anything with my operated ear. Always a noise inside my ear. i feel like the sound of a grass hopper at night.

Saiful Islam said...

I had my first one done back in 2011. Lost bit of hearing but i had the same problem again july 2017 when i was in one of the club in Bangkok. I beleive that happened for the high volume of speakers or maybe when i flew back it might have happened in plane during landing. 27th august this year i got that done again. Doct told me to come in 2 weeks which is tomorrow but today i took my packing off because i couldn't control myself when it was itching so much. Not hearing much by that ear as of now. Reading everyones case might nedd to wait bit long to get the middle ear packing disolve. Seeing the doctor tomorrow. Hope he says everything is in good condition.
After the surgery never had any pain, any other popping sound or anything. I dont know whats going on just hope everything is fine.
Lets hope for the best. PRAY everyone.

Unknown said...

Hi me too I had tinnitus before the operation, how are your ears now? Does tinnitus gone?

Saiful Islam said...

3rd week update
All on a sudden on the 23rd day i woke up went to work and when i was talking to my colleague i heard that old noisy echo thing happening in my ear which used to happen before operation. Then after a while when i was breathing i heard a massive air passing out from my ear which got operated. These actually used to happen thats why i went for surgery and for that perforation too. Today its 4th day in a row everytime i talk with someone continiously i hear air passing out from my ear. When i breath in and breath out it feels like ear is working like nose. Air going out everytime. And always that noisy echo sound whenever i talk. Not sure these comes under tinnitus or the drum got another hole or not. Went to my regular doctor as the surgeon did the surgery he only saw me once after 2 weeks of surgery and will see again in a months time. My doctor looked in ear and said according to him it looks fine. It got no perforation but i asked him then why 4days back the same symptoms started again what used to happen before. He told me the surgeon hav to look and can only tell me hows things going as my usual doctor isnt ENT specialist. So waiting to see the surgeon now and struggling with the air and sound happening in my ear. If someone still follows this blog and got some motivating words please do so. That only can keep things working.
Its good to see many comments where after a certain waiting people got their hearing back

Shavi said...

Scheduled for a tympanoplasty tomorrow in bangalore.i am extremely anxious and scared after reading all the stories above.

Monica said...

I live in Texas and this has been my summer from hell. Menieres disease is an inner ear condition which ultimately leads to deafness. They know more about it now than ever. A shot in my right eardrum never healed and after three paper covers for the hole my otologist suggested a tympanoplasty. Today is day 16. Some packing was removed Friday and the rest should dissolve over time..... The most annoying feature is that sound like a pump operating day and night. It is tinnitus and it is in the brain and it's a defense mechanism and should dissolve with the rest of the packing. It has not helped that this year was the worst for allergies ever and my eyes are itchy if i read too much. This site has been very helpful. The otologist has 23 years of doing this surgery and is only the second doctor in my 44 years with meniere's disease to have any real knowledge of hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo and balance problems. I am presuming that all of you who had problems after surgery are the 5% as she said hearing returns to 95% after surgery.
will let you know my progreaa

Unknown said...

It's totally normal! it mostly happens to everyone and I have been told that it is being caused by the little sponges that the doctors place in your ear during surgery dissolving. I don't know how long will it take until I don't hear it anymore but if you can update me it would be great!

Stephen said...

HI,

I've had the Timpanoplasty three times. Last 2 times with the same doctor, one for each ear. The right one was done 2 years ago. I have regained some hearing back from before and the ear drum only has a tiny pinhole in it. So it closed up but not all the way. The left ear I recently had done and I wanted to revisit this blog since there isn't much of a forum for people to discuss how their hearing went.

I replace the cotton ball once a day with vaseline on the outside of my ear (has nothing to do with the packing) and I see fresh blood all the time. I feel liquid moving back and forth sometimes when I get up or lean a certain direction, it's kind of gross knowing it's moving around in side. I hear my heartbeat, crackle and popping because of the packing.

Everything overall seems to be the same as the other side of my ear. In terms of hearing I supposedly did gain some hearing back on the right ear (done 2 years ago) but I noticed I did lose out on the high pitch sounds that my left ear could identify before the surgery. More crisps sounds. I hope the left ear is able to retain those high pitch sounds after it heals up. I also don't know if the left side will have a hole in it or not.

When I get sick, such as a cold recently. Fluid did start seeping out of my right ear, so I usually get these specialized ear drops for my perforated ears to dry them out, this has been going on for years. I've been doing this for a long time. I also take Sudafed you need to get behind the clerk to keep the congestion down when I know a cold is coming. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

Monica said...

Time will change everything . The new ear drum has to settle down and get accustomed to sounds. It is now 2 months since my surgery and when i wear my hearing aid in the right ear I am beginning to hear a few sounds. Be patient. The discharge is it healing and the packing breaking up. Dealing with congestion is difficult even without the addition of recent surgery. Get plenty of rest. Try to relax and let time work on it.

Stephen said...

Update:

I did post on Oct. 25, 2018 and Nov 15, 2018. It's now March 22, 2020.

My right ear still has a pinhole, serves well as it keeps things pressurized (even pressure inside and outside the ear drum. No leakage for the time being. It's kind of crazy with COVID'19 going on. The ear has a perfect scenario in equalizing and having a way for fluid to leak if necessary, but it really hasn't leaked anymore. I do take those nasal sprays for allergies to make sure I kind of stay ahead of congestion.

The left ear which was the most recent surgery actually healed up fully sealed; however, about a year later in 2019 somewhere, I noticed that it started to get muffled for the past few months. I went to an ENT at Kaiser and he showed me a picture of it. It was basically a fully sealed eardrum, so the surgery was great in terms of sealing the whole ear drum. The negative is that I still have crappy Eustacian tubes. So there is still dysfunction which would cause my ear to have negative pressure. The right ear can equalize with the hole, the left ear shows like it was getting sucked like how your skin would get sucked by a vacuum. The E-tube doesn't open appropriately to relieve the pressure so I would feel clogged. Especially when I held my breathe during weight lifting movements.


Fast forward, we scheduled a time to put in the tube in my fully sealed left ear with the negative pressure problem. You do this when you're awake now that I'm an adult (mid 30s) he put some cream in there that would numb the area, then the vacuum thingy (soooo loud!) to clean it up. Then he make the cut, (didn't really feel this) and said he was able to suck some liquid out behind the ear. Next he did the process of trying to put in a T-hook tube, but after trying it twice he switched to a different tube. Let me tell you, THIS WAS PAINFUL, the twisting, pushing 5 or so or more times was me gripping the seat, body tense (although I tried not to) and clenching my teeth. It was like Chinese Torture! However, I'm Chinese and know nothing about torcher methods, but this HURT so bad. He stated that he stopped, got most of it in, but the picture did show part of the flange was not totally behind the eardrum, so maybe 75% in. He stated that he felt uncomfortable pushing any harder while I'm awake and causing me pain, but he thinks the ear drum will heal and the flange will be perfectly in place. We'll check it in a year, see how it's going. After some discussion, I learned tubes can pop out due to fluid or pressure changes, etc., but he also had some patients where tubes stay there forever, so we'll see how it goes.

In terms of hearing, my hearing is the same with my right ear with the pinhole, and no more "clogged" issue when I'm weightlifting or holding my breathe. So, so far so good (after about 2 weeks). I'll post again after another checkup in a year.

I hope this helps others whom have questions about tubes or tympanoplasty. Since my ears are sensitive, maybe putting me to sleep would have been more ideal, but with COVID19, scheduling 2 months out would have likely ended up in a cancellation around April/May 2020. I did wish he got a fully correct "install" of the tube, but nothing to fret right now, when I get the check-up we'll see how it's holding up and if we need to get back at it, and hopefully this COVID issue is done with.

Unknown said...

I am 9 days post op. I had a radical tympanomastoidectomy to remove a cholesteatoma in my R ear. Had numerous ear infections as child, tonsils out at 2 years. Hearing loss was gradual and chalked it up to age. Discovered the cholestatoma after sinus infection and more hearing loss. Very pleased so far with results. Doctor was realistic and said my hearing might not be better (may go to hearing aid) but cholesteatoma (benign cyst or tumor caused by ear infections) had to come out as it may spread to skull, jaw or brain and cause problems. The ear cup was uncomfortable for two days. Very minor pangs / pain and intermittent. Got by on tylenol - no opiods. Some bleeding but not major. Slept upright (about 45 degrees) for several days. Some itching but goes away. I noticed I could hear better right away. Doctor put prosthesis (titanium) in ear and was able to reconstruct the ear bones. 7 days post op check up. Doc removed most of the packing but left some in. 2 ear drops daily. After packing removed, a night of tinnitus (swooshing heart beat sounds which only diminished with changing head positions. That seems to have subsided somewhat, but still hear faint beating of the heart ocassionally. Some sharp pain - but short-lived and infrequent. Doc said be very careful of water in ear. Said stay out of humidity (it has been 90 hear with high humidity). I am following advice and staying indoors for now. Since Doc was realistic and said I may not hear any better, I am pleased with the results (cyst is gone and needed to go) and I do believe my hearing is better but I am a hopeless optimist. Should hear even better after all packing is out. Stay hopeful - all noises, pops, swooshing, tinnitus, bleeding (not heavy) is all normal.

Stephen said...

Since March 22, 2020, my right ear continues with a pinhole sized opening and is fine. My left ear has a tube in it. I am to continue popping my ears by closing my nose and pushing air out to exercise the E-tubes. I can hear noise on both sides, the pinhole side I can hear first as the hole is smaller. I can hear air move through my tube side. Still not sure if the e-tube dilation worked... and I may never know until the tube pops out again, if it decides to do that again.

Dwayne Gobin said...

Four days ago, I had the tymnoplasty plus ossicular reconstruction. I have been needing this surgery for decades. Surgeons always refused to do it and said it was too risky of an operation. This doctor has done it many times. It has been rough the last few days and this temporary tinnitus is so annoying, I just want to yell! I wish the bleeding would stop because it keeps packing around the outside of the ear. Nice to hav this forum.