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| Postoperative Instructions | |
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Precautions: Do not blow your nose until such time as your doctor has indicated that your ear is 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 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 hair, lamb's wool or cotton may be placed in the outer ear opening and covered with Vaseline. If an incision was made in the skin behind your ear, water should be kept away from this area for two weeks. Do not take any unnecessary chance of catching 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. You may anticipate a certain amount of pulsation, popping, clicking, and other sounds in the ear and also a feeling of fullness. The occasional occurrence of sharp shooting pains is not unusual. At times it may feel as if there is liquid in the ear. There are no specific travel restrictions. During the first two weeks following surgery, however, commercial air travel is preferred to automobile or train travel for trips over 200 miles. It is advisable to chew gum to stimulate swallowing when there are altitude changes while traveling. Dizziness: Minor degrees of dizziness may be present on head motion and need not concern you unless this should increase. Hearing: Rarely is hearing improvement noted immediately following surgery. It may be temporarily worse due to swelling of the ear tissues and packing in the ear canal. An improvement may be noticed 6-8 weeks after surgery. Maximum improvement may require 4-6 months. Discharge: A bloody or watery discharge may occur during the healing period. The outer ear cotton may be changed if necessary, but in general, the less done to the ear the better. A yellow (infected) discharge at any time is an indication to call the appointment desk and arrange to see your doctor. Pain: Mild, intermittent ear pain is not unusual during the first two weeks. Pain above or in front of the ear is common when chewing. If you have persistent ear pain, not relieved by a few aspirin, call the appointment desk and arrange to see your doctor. Eardrops: If your doctor wishes you to use eardrops you will receive them when leaving the hospital. Begin using the eardrops 2 weeks after surgery, a few drops twice daily to loosen the ear packing, which will run out of the ear as a liquid. Tip the head to the side and place two drops in the ear, allowing them to remain for 5 minutes. Then tip the head in the opposite direction tot allow the ear drips to run out. Continue doing this twice daily until you have finished the drops or until advised otherwise by your doctor. |
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