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Stapedectomy
Leaving the Hospital
- If you have not already been given a postoperative appointment, please call the appointment desk at (208) 777-1320 and schedule a visit approximately three weeks after surgery.
- Any prescriptions you receive prior to surgery should be filled. Take the medication at home as directed on the bottle.
- There are no dietary restrictions, although if dizziness is present it is best to start with clear liquids.
Dressing
Remove the ear dressing the day after surgery. It is not unusual to have a bloody drainage on the cotton. The cotton in the ear canal should be changed daily.
Precautions
- DO NOT blow your nose until such time that it has been indicated that your ear has healed. Any accumulated secretions in the nose may be drawn back into the throat and expectorated if desired. This is particularly important if you develop a cold.
- DO NOT “pop” your ears by holding your nose and blowing air through the eustachian tube into the ear. If it is necessary to sneeze, do so with your mouth open.
- DO NOT allow water to enter the ear until advised by your doctor that the ear is healed. Until such time, when showering or washing the ear, lambs wool or cotton may be placed in the outer ear opening and covered with Vaseline®.
- DO NOT take an unnecessary chance of catching a cold. Avoid undue exposure or fatigue. Should you catch a cold, treat it in your usual way reporting to us if you should develop ear symptoms.
- DO NOT have dental work requiring drilling of the teeth until three weeks after surgery.
- You may anticipate a certain amount of pulsation, popping, clicking and other sounds in the ear, and also a feeling of fullness in the ear. Occasional sharp shooting pains are not unusual. At times it may feel as if there is liquid in the ear.
- DO NOT plan to drive a car home from the hospital. Air travel is permissible two days following surgery. When changing altitude, you should remain awake and chew gum to stimulate swallowing.
- DO NOT perform any heavy lifting or vigorous physical activity for three weeks after surgery.
Dizziness
Patients often experience dizziness, with nausea and vomiting, immediately after stapedectomy surgery. Some unsteadiness is common during the first few days, but this should subside within a week. Brief dizziness on sudden head motion or in bending over may persist for a few weeks. If dizziness does not continue to show improvement, please call our appointment desk and arrange to see your physician.
Hearing
Patients sometimes notice a hearing improvement at the time of surgery, but this improved hearing quickly fades due to normal swelling of ear tissues. By the end of three or four weeks, a hearing improvement is usually apparent. Occasionally this improvement is not noticeable for a few months.
Discharge
Cotton may be used next to the outer ear opening to absorb any ear drainage. A slight watery discharge, often blood-tinged, is not unusual for a period of one week after surgery. Should this discharge continue longer, or should a yellow (infected) discharge develop at anytime, please call the appointment desk and arrange to see your physician.
Pain
Occasionally shooting pain in the ear is not unusual. You should not have continual ear pain; if you do, please call the appointment desk and arrange to see your physician.
If an incision has been made above your ear, you can expect this region to remain tender and to have some discomfort on jaw movement for a period of a few weeks.
Eardrops
Four days before your three week post-operative appointment, begin placing a few drops of mineral oil in the ear canal twice daily to soften any crust. Allow the oil to remain five minutes.
Questions & Problems
Please call the St. Joseph's Ear, Nose & Throat Clinic (208) 777-1320 during office hours. After hours, call the same clinic number and follow the prompts to be connected to the answering service.
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