Hi there, I had my stapedectomy operation done in Decem...
Posted , 76 users are following.
Hi there,
I had my stapedectomy operation done in December 2006 and thought I'd share my experience with anyone who might be considering this operation and sprawling patient forums as I did.
I was 60% deaf in my right ear and had early signs of otosclerosis in my left ear. I decided to go ahead with the opeartion largely because insurance doesn't cover hearing aids. My specialist was Mr. J A Lavy who I can't recommend enough. He explained that there was a 1% chance of total hearing loss and 10% chance that my hearing wouldn't improve and as others have mentioned they may not be able to do the operation should my facial nerve be in the way.
I had the operation done under local anaesthetic and was also given a sedative. I have to say the most painful part of the whole experience was the injections in my ear but they are over in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately my ear canal was too narrow so they had to make an incision in the top of my ear but that really wasn't a big deal and has left the tiniest of scares. I watched the operation as it was being done through their camera which was quite reassuring as there were a lot of loud noises as they chipped away at bone etc. I fell asleep as they were doing the laser bit and came round after they had sewn up my ear drum. The advantage of them doing it under local was that they could do a mini test on my hearing there and then.
I felt extremely dizzy after the op - don't underestimate how dizzy u'll feel. I think that it is a little under played on a lot of these sites about how rotten you'll feel for the next day or so. I ended up staying in the hospital overnight.
My recovery took a week and it was a week of very squelchy noises, having to have someone wash my hair (you musn't get it wet) and restless nights as obviously it's too painful to lye on the operated ear.
Once the padding came out (2 weeks) everything was defeaningly loud and had a tinny quality about it but that settled down over the following two weeks. But I would be prepared to negotiate your social life for this period as I found that going out a bit of an overwhelming experience as I found my sense of sound direction was completely off.
Yesterday I had my hearing tested, you have to wait 6 weeks in total before it's testable, the results were fantastic I now have a normal right ear and can use the phone on that ear and hear what people are actually saying rather than just pretending to understand.
There is a small chance that I may have to have the piston replaced years from now as I am only 25 and so it may wear out also I may need to have the left ear operated on in time but I don't see this as a major issue considering how well my first op went.
The things that I have been told I wont be able to do post op is scuba diving and sky diving (shucks!)
Well that's it - hope that's helpful!
[i:0f5ba42d8b]This message was automatically imported from the original Patient Experience[/i:0f5ba42d8b]
5 likes, 204 replies
janete84732 Guest
Posted
Janete
joanne8798 janete84732
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Wondering what ever came of your odd situation so long after surgery? I've have share of different oddities you can see on this thread, but was wondering how you are doing now?
Cookiegirl Guest
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Anyone else have a lot of post op ear, facial pain?
joanne8798 Cookiegirl
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How are you now? It's been awhile since your post and nov 2016 since my dual stapes surgeries with strange complications.....but not facial pain. But my release forms stated it could happen but would be temporary. My tongue/taste buds are still not right, still dizzy from problems I had, but no face pain. Do you still have it? What did the dr end up doing/saying.
joanne8798 Guest
Posted
Hello, I know this post is old, but it caught my attention as I am concerned about continued dizziness and not feeling as normal as most posts say. I did have a big complication that affected my balance and surgery was re-done 3 days after the first one. But I feel 'drunk' and don't feel safe driving now 9 days past second surgery. I travel for the followup and wondering if the blood clotting and internal packing are throwing off my balance. Also can't hear yet but get ringing and tinny sounds.
Wondering if u feel normal again? I'm older than you by13 years so this may affect as well. Thank you!
lm80 joanne8798
Posted
Hi Joanna. Everyone heals differently that's for sure. Which is unfortunate because it still leave questions. I had a Stapedectomy in March and it wasn't until a month later that I was feeling "normal." I'm 36. I certainly didn't drive all that time as I live in the city. I was told by my doctor to be extremely careful and to do very little for the following 2 weeks of surgery, being 14 days. I think you should rest more and allow your body to heal. And if you don't think you should drive, have a friend or family memeber take you. The ear packing was pretty uncomfortable and I'm sure that is part of the reason you could be feeling odd. But odds are, the trauma in your middle ear has everything to do with it, so take it easy on yourself.
My experience is that I feel "fine." But the procedure has caused Tinnitus and it has not left yet. It fixed my hearing so my doc is happy. But overall I don't feel any different with added Tinnitus.
joanne8798 lm80
Posted
Thank you so much, I remember now that tinnitus was a bad side effect of yours. So sorry. Vertigo is still mine bc of the complication that occurred, but I'm sort of getting used to being a bit off-balance. Have resumed everything normally.
Bc of the complication, I'll be getting tested in my area of the state next week (first real cleaning---replaced eardrum too--and look at the healing plus audiogram), then travel few hours the next day to see the surgeon so he can document my journey. Apparently my shaped ear canal or something that trapped the air/gas bubbles making me dizzy, needs to be documented in their medical journal because they had never seen that happen. Crazy. I'm not liking having to pay for 2 surgeries, even with insurance!!!! Good luck with that tinnitus, can't believe they can't fix that somehow....with all this technology these days??!!
lm80 joanne8798
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Thank you! I went to a new doctor and he said it wasn't the stapedectomy that caused the tinnitus. I'm in jaw therapy now, if you can believe that. I have a misaligned jaw and swollen trigger points in my neck and shoulder. (All news to me.. btw, what's a TRIGGER POINT?) So lets see if this helps. It's laughable but happy to know there may be a cure. TMJ they call it.
Good luck to you.
spencers63 Guest
Posted
Hi ,
I just had my stapedectomy operation done 1 week ago in the US. My doctor was outstanding as was everyone that assisted. Unlike you I had general anesthesia and the entire process took about two hours. After I woke up I felt great ! No dizziness, nausea or pain. And only a cotton ball was put in my ear which I change every two hours. In the days up till now I have had some minor pain and a sense that that ear is plugged.
It's been 8 days since my operation. When I remove the cotton I hear a range of sound I haven't heard in years and it's a little confusing. For example I started running the shower while the water warmed up I changed the cotton in my ear and about to put ear drops in, all of a sudden I hear what sounds like a small waterfall or fountain I check to see if the bath sink is leaking, no its not. I look at the shower running and realized I'm hearing a new range of sound from the shower. I was told it may take up to 8 weeks to notice any improvement, however, in my case it's happening now!
lm80 spencers63
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Sounds like you had a pretty greate experience. I was dizzy and felt horrible for 3 weeks. My ear was pretty bad. As for the sounds, yes I heard all sorts of things while it was healing. It all settled down to crickets or running water like you said. Sometimes sounds were distorted and mechanical. Very odd. It's been almost exactly a year since my Stapedectomy. And I am anxious to have my hearing checked again, because I don't feel any different then I did before. PLUS I still have tinnitus which was caused by this surgery. But I have gotten used to it.
joanne8798 spencers63
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Wow that's great and interesting. Happy for you it was rather uneventful. My Dr told me to not let any water in for over a month, but could be also because my eardrum was rebuilt. Definitely check with your surgeon about that.
I'm also hearing better and going next week for my first real cleaning/recheck and audiogram....then travel 3 hrs to the surgeon to followup. The complications I had were odd and they need to document in a medical journal in case it happens again. (Odd shaped canal and now air/gas bubbles remaining in there are still causing vertigo (nov 2016 , 2 surgeries 3 days apart). But how wonderful to hear from that ear again isn't it??!! All in all worth it!
joanne8798 lm80
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navidnassir Guest
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joanne8798 navidnassir
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Hello! Recovery can be months so being patient is the hardest part. My packing was self disolving and I still feel like it's not fully gone (nov 2016 operation that was done twice in 4 days due to a complication with the first one).
But as I was in normal recovery, sounds were piercing to me that others were ok with. That went away. Very little pain. My biggest problem was vertigo due to the complications, it was really bad. I still have it and have to do therapy for it. Most ppl have imbalance due to simply a clogged feeling ear on one side and it goes away as it clears. Just DONT TRY CLEANING YOUR EAR until dr says! I also had my eardrum replaced so that cleaning part was a bigger issue for me I think too.Good luck and be patient!!!
susan57889 Guest
Posted
This conversation seems to be a bit old but I'd like to know if anyone is still following it. I had surgery yesterday on my right ear after being almost completely deaf for 5 years and wearing hearing aids in order to get by. No problems with surgery,everything went smoothly I'm just curious about the healing timeline and when I can expect to hear again .as of now I can't hear anything out of it although my tinnitus seems to have subsided, which is great. Not holding my breath that that will continue. It may also have to do with the fact that I have gauze and fluid in there. Has anyone else recently had the surgery and can share their experience? I would love to hear any feedback. as I said, it's only been one day I'm sure I have a lot to learn during the healing process
joanne8798 susan57889
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Oh my! I could and probably write a book here. My surgery was nov 2016, had it done twice within 4 days due to odd complications you can prob see in this thread. But PATIENCE is the hardest part of this healing. I can hear better now a few months out. First few weeks were lots of dizziness(just the packing can cause that off balance), metallic piercing sounds (like ppl talking on tv's voices! Ugh was awful) were first to come through and I was worried they would last, but I hardly remember them now! Do not get water in your ear at all yet (ask your dr, mine was for over a month, but my eardrum s also had to be rebuilt, may have different instructions). But the packing seemed to take forever to dissolve, just yesterday I heard a popping relief and thought maybe the last of it or more of it was dissolving. So be very VERY patient and communicate with your dr's and nurses. Took me weeks before I felt I could drive, but again, had a vertigo complication (first prosthetic was too long and hit my bslznce bone. Re-do of surgery corrected it but my brain had to be retained to balance. I'm still more unstable than before my operations. But happy to hear better
. Good luck to you!!
susan57889 joanne8798
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Thank you for replying. I did go back up through the thread and read up on everyone else's stories. Very informative I'm glad I found this conversation. Keeping my fingers crossed that my hearing will have been improved.
joanne8798 susan57889
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