Home Care Instructions Following Ear Surgery
- Please call the doctor's office at (615) 327-3077 and make an appointment to see him two to three weeks from the date you are discharged from the hospital unless instructed to do otherwise.
- Avoid getting too tired. You want to prevent catching a cold. Stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Stay away from crowds. Wash your hands before you eat.
- If you have a plastic bubble dressing on your ear, remove it in the morning after surgery. Also, replace the cotton in your ear with a fresh cotton ball. Place two Band-Aids over the incision line behind the ear.
- Change the cotton in your ear three times a day-- in the morning, mid-day, and at night. You may change the cotton ball more often if it becomes moist or feels like it has drainage on it. If you have had a tympanoplasty or mastoidectomy, you will need to use ear drops each time you change the cotton ball.
- DO NOT BLOW YOUR NOSE FOR 2 WEEKS FOLLOWING SURGERY. Instead, sniff back any mucous that has accumulated in your nose, and spit it out to avoid infecting your ears. If you must sneeze, do so with your mouth open.
- The Band-Aids behind your ear may be removed after three days. You may have bloody or watery drainage from the incision area up to 10 days following surgery. Tape a piece of gauze behind the ear until the drainage stops.
- You may notice a full sensation with popping sounds in your ear while it heals. Do not let this alarm you: it will stop.
- Keep water out of the ear until it is healed. The hair may be shampooed three days following surgery, providing water is not allowed to enter the ear canal. Put a plug of cotton in your ear and apply petroleum jelly over the cotton before you bathe or shampoo.
- If you have undergone a neurotologic procedure such as a nerve section, shunt, or removal of a tumor and develop clear fluid flow from the nose or suture line, notify your doctor immediately.
- If you have had surgery to improve your hearing, do not be concerned if your hearing does not improve during the first six to eight weeks. The surgery must have time to heal before you can expect your hearing to improve. Your doctor will check your progress and tell you what to expect.
- Be sure to keep your follow up appointment with the doctor. This will insure that your recovery is coming along as it should.
Travel Restrictions Following Surgery
You should have someone drive you from the hospital. Air travel is permissible 48 hours after surgery and is preferred to automobile or train trips that are over 200 miles.
Important Phone Numbers
If you have any questions regarding what to expect following your ear surgery, please call our office at (615) 327-3077. A message center is available to answer your call after hours.
Call the doctor if:
- the discharge in your ear lasts longer than two to three days
- the discharge in your ear develops an odor
- you suddenly develop bloody or watery drainage behind the ear where your dressing was
- you notice clear drainage from your nose if you have had tumor surgery, a shunt procedure, or a middle fossa procedure
- you have an oral temperature greater than 100 degrees F.
- you develop any pain in your leg following surgery
What To Expect Following Ear Surgery
There are some symptoms which may follow any ear operation.
- Taste Disturbance and Mouth Dryness:
- Taste disturbance and mouth dryness are not uncommon for a few weeks following surgery. In some patients this disturbance is prolonged.
- Tinnitus:
- Tinnitus (head noise), frequently present before surgery, is almost always present temporarily after surgery. It may persist for one to two months and then decrease in proportion to the hearing improvement. If the hearing does not improve, the tinnitus may persist.
- Numbness of Ear:
- Temporary loss of skin sensation in and about the ear is common following surgery. The numbness may involve the entire outer ear and may last for six months or more.
- Jaw Symptoms:
- The jaw joint is in intimate contact with the ear canal. Some soreness or stiffness in jaw movement is very common after ear surgery. It usually subsides within one to two months.
- Drainage Behind the Ear:
- At times, the surgeon may insert a drain tube behind the ear. The necessity for this tube is usually not apparent before surgery. Should a drain tube be necessary, it will protrude through the skin behind the ear about 1/4 inch and may be left in place for a week or more.
Risks and Potential Complications of Surgery
Fortunately, complications are uncommon following ear surgery. Some that rarely occur are:
- Ear Infection:
- Ear infection, with drainage, swelling and pain, may persist following surgery or on rare occasions may develop following surgery due to poor healing of the ear tissue. When this happens, additional surgery might be necessary to control the infection.
- Loss of Hearing:
- In approximately 3% of all cases hearing is permanently impaired following surgery. On occasion there is a total loss of hearing in the operated ear. These are due to (1) extent of the disease and (2) complications in healing. In these instances, nothing further can be done to improve healing.
- In some cases a two-stage operation is necessary to achieve satisfactory hearing and eliminate the disease. The hearing is usually worse after the first operation in these instances.
- Dizziness:
- Dizziness may occur immediately following surgery due to swelling in the ear and irritation of the inner ear structures. Some unsteadiness may persist for a week after surgery.On rare occasions, dizziness is prolonged.
- Ten percent of patients with chronic ear infection due to cholesteatoma have a labyrinthine fistula (abnormal opening into the balance canal). When this problem is encountered, dizziness may last for six months or more.
- Facial Paralysis:
- The facial nerve travels through the ear bone in close association with the middle ear bones, eardrum, and the mastoid. A rare post-operative complication of ear surgery is temporary paralysis of one side of the face. This may occur as the result of an abnormality or a swelling of the nerve and usually subsides spontaneously.
- On very rare occasions the nerve may be injured at the time of surgery, or it may be necessary to excise it in order to eradicate the disease. When this happens, a skin sensation nerve is removed from the upper part of the neck to replace the facial nerve. Paralysis of the face under these circumstances might last six months to a year, and there would be apermanent, residual weakness. Eye complications requiring treatment by an ophthalmologist could develop in this case.
- Hematoma:
- A hematoma (collection of blood under the skin) develops in a small percentage of cases. Another operation to remove the clot may be be necessary if this complications occurs.
- Complications Related to Mastoidectomy:
- A Cerebral spinal fluid leak (leak of fluid surrounding the brain) is a very rare complication. Another operation may be necessary to stop the leak.
- Intracranial (Brain) Complications, such as meningitis or rare brain abscess or even paralysis, were common in cases of chronic otitis media before the antibiotic era. Fortunately, these now are extremely rare complications.
You may talk to a doctor or nurse in our office by calling the numbers 615-386-9089 or (615) 327-3077. A message center will answer your calls after office hours and contact the doctor for you.