Post-operative care following Ear and Mastoid Surgery

Care after Mastoid Surgery | What to Expect after Mastoidectomy Surgery?

Following ear and mastoid surgery, it is recommended not to blow the nose and follow the instructions of the ENT doctor. Accumulation of secretions or post-nasal drainage would be possible if the patient has a cold. Therefore, the patient should take care to ensure that the secretions are drawn back into the throat and are ejected through the mouth.

The next precaution is to ensure that the ears are not bulged out by closing and holding the nose and blowing air into the air through the Eustachian tube. If the patient feels like sneezing, then he or she should perform it by making the mouth open.

Self-Care After Mastoid Surgery

Don’t Let Water Enter Your Ear

The next important precaution is to ensure that water does not enter the ear until the doctor says that it is healed. The patient is therefore advised to take precautions to protect the ear from water – especially while bathing, washing hair, and splashing water on the head and face.

Use Insulated Ear Plugs

The patient can use insulated earplugs that do not allow water inside the ear. To make an insulated cotton plug, apply some Vaseline or wax all over a small cotton ball and use this ball to plug the ear. Then after, the hair can be washed using water.

The patient should not go swimming or to the pool until the doctor allows him or her to do so. Furthermore, the incisions behind the ears should be kept dry for at least two to three weeks.

Another important precaution is to ensure that the patient does not catch a cold and to make this possible he or she needs to take all sorts of precautions ranging from avoiding bad weather to managing stress and fatigue. In spite of all precautions, if the patient catches a cold or flu, it should immediately be reported to the doctor to ensure that all possible means of controlling the condition are being taken. The doctor will take every possible measure to curtail the infection and prevent complications that might affect the patient’s hearing.

What to Expect after Mastoidectomy Surgery?

Cautions: There could be a possibility of popping, pulsing, clicking, and rhythmic sounds – along with the feeling of fullness in the ear – and also, it is not surprising to notice sharp shooting pain occasionally. Sometimes, the patient may feel as if they have fluid in the ear.

There might be a possibility of less intense dizziness or slight dizziness associated with head movements. It is considered as insignificant unless it persists and makes the patient uncomfortable.

Improvement in hearing immediately after surgery is rarely possible because swelling in the ear tissue and packing in the ear canal could even cause temporary worsening of hearing. However, improvement in hearing may be possible within six to eight months of the surgery – but optimum improvement is possible only after four to six months.

Yellowish, watery, and bloody fluid discharge may occur during the healing period. During this time, the cotton plug placed in the outer ear can be changed if possible – but it would be better the lesser it is done. If you wish to put a ball of cotton or cotton plug in the outer canal of the ear to prevent the flow of discharge onto the pillow at night– you can do so, after the packing is out.

Pain after ear or mastoid surgery or Is Mastoid surgery painful?

The patient may experience dull and mild intermittent pain for up to two to three weeks after the surgery– which should not be considered unusual. Pain while chewing & pain above and below the ear may also occur. However, persistent pain, and the pain which is not alleviated in spite of taking the prescribed pain relievers should not be ignored and the patient should seek medical help. There may be numbness in the outer part of the upper ear if the incision is behind the ear.

Resumption of activities after tympanoplasty and mastoidectomy

The patient can take up activities after two to three days following a tympanoplasty and following a mastoidectomy; the activities can be resumed after a week. As far as travel is concerned, the patient can go on as there are no limitations. The patient can use chewing gum to induce swallowing if they experience difficulty while going through altitude changes.

Follow-up Care after Mastoid Surgery

After the surgery, the patient can plan a follow-up appointment with the doctor after two weeks.