Tympanoplasty, The Aftermath

I’d like to share my experience of the Tympanoplasty (Surgical Operation of the tympanic membrane or ear drum) and the road to recovery. In my case it was the left tympanoplasty.  Let me start of by saying “do not be scared of this operation, if there is need for you to undergone one please do so”. After reading please share this post with others, it will definitely give hope and courage to someone out there.

I really wanted to share with you the reason why I had to undergo this ear surgery in the first place but the story behind it is a painful one so for now let me just keep it to myself. 

My left ear, because of the story above developed a continuous sharp annoying sound inside. It was swollen and it was very painful. I was a bit reluctant on seeing a doctor because I was confident that the ear would heal naturally. My mum convinced me to go and see the doctor and after three weeks of taking medication the pain and swelling went away but the sharp annoying sound did not disappear. I went back to the doctor a several number of times but nothing materialized until I was referred to an ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) Specialist.

The renowned ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) Specialist examined the ear and was quick to conclude the reason behind this continuous sharp pitch (tinnitus is its biological term). What followed were words not easy to take in. He said "There is a huge perforation in your left ear drum that will never heal on its own”. He suggested the Tympanoplasty to try and close the perforation. I could not handle the sound anymore so I had no option but to go under the knife. To try and describe the experience just imagine the sound produced in the butchery by a meat cutting machine right in your ear. As if that's enough, this "lullaby" was played non stop right inside my left ear.

Below are images of a normal ear drum and a damaged one.

The tympanoplasty operation is usually performed to close the perforation in the tympanic membrane (ear drum) so as to restore hearing, avoid infection into the brain and to eliminate tinnitus(a sharp, continuous and annoying sound in the ear). In my case there was not much loss of hearing. From my research there are 2 ways of performing the surgery. Option 1 is to partially detach the ear from the head so as to fully access the eardrum. Option 2 involves using special equipment which can access the eardrum without cutting off the ear. With the former the surgeon normally uses the patient’s tissue taken from under the skin of the ear that has been partially cut off and uses this tissue to close off the perforation. With the latter, to close the perforation, the surgeon uses skin taken from the ear’s tragus (A small cartilaginous flap in front of the external opening of the ear). 

Let me guess, yes, I got that right, you would go for Option 2. There were no options to choose from in my case but fortunately the Specialist said he was going to perform method number 2.

The operation was performed a month after diagnosis (in February 2012). It was a bit painful in the first week. I was taking a couple of painkillers each day to relieve the pain. Sleeping and chewing was handled by only the right sides of the body. A lot of muscles are used while defecating and care had to be taken to prevent the chances of tearing the operated area of the eardrum. It was difficult to wash the face because of the bandage strapping on the other half of the face. It took about three weeks to heal with regular reviews in-between. After those 3 weeks, the annoying sound did not disappear even though the ear had healed. and I had to go for reviews every 2/3 weeks. The ENT Specialist kept on telling me that it takes a while for the sound to disappear. Seven months on and still the sound had not disappeared and during those seven months I was visiting the specialist after every 2/3 weeks. That’s a lot of time and money, I was just a university student and this involved missing lectures. The pitch of the sound increased with time. It was quite disturbing and caused a lot of sleepless nights. He prescribed some sleeping tablets and it did not go down well with me. I finally decided to see a different ENT specialist. What he showed me on a large TV screen was difficult to accept as it was my ear drum with a large perforation same as it was before the operation. Up to now (2022 at the time of writing this line) I still don't understand the actions of the ENT Specialist who did this op. He could have just told me that the op was not successful than to make me go for a lengthy period with fake hope. 

Finally it was now clear that the first operation was not a success so I had to undergo a second one, this time with a different surgeon. It was quite saddening, painful and hard to accept. After being told to undergo another op I found it difficult to accept so I only went back for after one year and three months. This time the surgeon had to partially cut off the ear so as to fully access the inner part of the ear (like anyone else I didn’t want anyone to temper with my head or anything close to the brain but I had no choice). The second op was performed on the 12^th of March 2014. Was the second op a success? well I'll leave you to decide. 

I highlighted earlier that the main reasons for undergoing this operation is to prevent the risk of infection entering into the brain and to reduce or clear the sharp, annoying continuous sound in the ear (tinnitus). In my case it was mainly the sound, the perforation and a bit of some hearing loss. I’m glad and would like to thank the Lord that with the second op the perforation was successfully closed. The sad part, the tinnitus did not disappear, I would have really loved for it to disappear but sadly I have to live with it. I had to undergo training so as to learn to live with the sound. So far so good and I'm grateful. I do not rule out that God may one day do His wonders and take away the sound). I have managed to adjust well, in both noisy and quiet areas I hardly here the sound and I have almost no problems sleeping. For me to hear the sound I have to pay close attention to it. Not everyday is a good one. There are moments when it hits hard and its so disturbing and causes a lot of discomfort until God steps in. Sometimes I try to imagine someone else having to cope with that continuous sound similar to a microphone glitch and wonder how I pull through, I can only thank God. Ooh and my hearing has improved too.

One other thing that I have to live with is that whenever I want to bath I have to close the left ear with a piece of cotton wool to prevent moisture and water from entering the ear. That is at least 365 cotton pieces a year. I have to do the same if I want to swim. Well, ear plugs are a good alternative but not if you are always misplacing them. 

Tympanic membrane operations heal perfectly in most cases. They have a reasonably high success rate of taking away the tinnitus so there shouldn’t be a reason for one to choose not to go for one if they have a similar problem. Here is a link of a successful op from another person. I found it useful before I went for the second op. 

http://rmondello.com/2008/08/23/my-tympanoplasty-a-retrospective/

Thank you for stopping by to read this story, I hope you'll find it useful. Feel free to add your comments after reading. Wish you all the best in life.