The first days
Expect a dressing or packing in the ear canal, a blocked feeling, and some discomfort that simple painkillers control. Mild unsteadiness is common after operations that touch the inner ear, and a metallic or altered taste on one side of the tongue is common after any operation through the middle ear; both usually settle over days to weeks. Small amounts of blood-stained discharge from the ear are normal. Sleep with the head raised for a few nights if it is more comfortable.
The first weeks
- Hearing in the operated ear is usually worse than before while packing, blood and swelling are present. This is expected and says nothing about the result.
- Keep the ear dry. Cotton wool with a smear of petroleum jelly in the outer ear for showering; no swimming or head under water until cleared.
- No nose-blowing. Sneeze with the mouth open. Avoid straining and heavy lifting.
- No flying until your surgeon says so — typically two to four weeks for most operations; see flying after ear surgery.
- Return to work when you feel able, usually after one to two weeks for desk work; longer for noisy or physical jobs.
- Packing is removed at the first visit, often at one to three weeks, and the ear begins to open up afterwards.
Hearing
For stapedotomy, hearing often improves noticeably once the packing is out and the middle ear clears — within a few weeks — but continues to change for two to three months. For tympanoplasty and ossiculoplasty, the graft and middle ear take longer to settle and hearing is judged at three months or later. The definitive audiogram is at three to six months. Judging a result at two weeks is meaningless; judging it at a year is fair.
Things that are normal
Popping and crackling as the ear clears; sounds seeming too loud or tinny for a while; a numb feeling around the ear if there was an incision; a change in taste; mild dizziness on sudden movement.
Things that are not
See when to contact your surgeon.
Post-operative review schedule
A typical schedule: day 1–3 telephone or visit to check dizziness and pain; 1–3 weeks for pack removal and drum inspection; 6 weeks for graft assessment in tympanoplasty; 3 months audiogram (stapes) or 3–6 months (tympanoplasty/ossiculoplasty); 12 months audiogram for outcome reporting. Persistent vertigo, a sudden drop in hearing, or a fluctuating loss after stapes surgery warrants early review for perilymph fistula or over-long prosthesis. Bone-conduction thresholds at each audiogram, not only air conduction.
This page provides general educational information. It cannot replace an individual assessment, which depends on a full history, examination, audiometry and, where relevant, imaging. If you have sudden hearing loss, severe pain, facial weakness, severe dizziness or discharge with fever, seek medical care promptly.