Doctor Recommends Ear Surgery (Closing the Perforations in My Eardrum)... Should I Give it a Go?

I’ve had perforated eardrums since I was 2 due to a myringotomy.

Throughout the years I’ve had a total of three surgeries to fix this problem, all unsuccessful.

All of the past surgeries were when I was a child, the last one was when I was around 13-14.

Now I’m 32 and I decided to see a leading physician in the head and neck surgery.

He wants to do another surgery to close the perforations which would improve my hearing and hopefully tinnitus as well.

I’m just a little skeptical after past failed surgeries, however he told me that he has successfully fix people's eardrums who have had 20 prior surgeries.

He also said he may have to fix / replace some of the small ossicles.

What do you all think should I give it another try or leave well enough alone?

 

Or it could make your tinnitus worse and then you'll regret having the surgery at all. =\

 

Huh. A pessimistic post from Coffee_Girl.

Well, I think you should do it. A lot of people seem to have worse T from myringotomy so maybe it will help? And better hearing is also good.

 

Tough decision. I'd probably try it.

 

There seems to be more than just a perforated ear drum. What is the problem with your ossicles, and how was it diagnosed?

It's a totally different ballgame to close up a perforation (it depends on how big it is actually) and to replace an ossicle (I've had both done).

No matter what you chose to do, pick the surgeon carefully.

 

Answer this question:

If I dont go through with this surgery, could I live a decent life with my current ear condition and tinnitus level?
If the answer to that is yes, dont do it.

edit* i had chronic anal fissure in the past (which eventually went away mostly, still have issues) and was recommended surgery with a tiny tiny chance of becoming incontinent. Do you think I did the surgery? Hell fucking no

 

Hi, my name's Daniel. I think my right ear ossicle bone is messed up... Every time I swallow or move my jaw it does this. Haven't been to an ENT yet, to discuss this, but will soon.

I would like to know about your ossicle being replaced, your experience before and after? What was the surgery like? If you have time, would be super interested to know.

By the way, I hope you're better for it and doing well generally.

 

Diagnosing a "messed up ossicle" requires a lot more than "when I swallow it does <this>". What you have may have nothing to do with ossicles.

My surgery is called stapedotomy. You learn about it here: https://sunnybrook.ca/content/?page=laser-stapedotomy-hearing-loss-treatment

Thanks. I think the outcome was successful, albeit not perfect: my severe hyperacusis is almost completely gone, and I regained a lot of hearing in the low frequencies. The reason it's not perfect is that it did not rid me of Tinnitus (I had a 50/50 chance), and it actually degraded my high frequency hearing a bit (which is a known possible side effect).

 

Thanks for getting back to me... I've been reading... gonna look for professional help. Thanks again for your time and input.