Ear Reconstruction

Question: Does anyone know who the leading ear reconstruction surgeon is, in the world?

Answer: How many times are you going to ask this question?

Question: tubes in ears and ear reconstruction? When i was little (about four) i had my tonciles and abnoids taken out aswell as tubes in my ears due to cronic ear infections. Last year my ears became so infected that i got a blister right next to my ear drum and i went temerarley deaf in my right ear after the blister poped wich was very gross and blood came out of my ear. The doctors tould me my ear drums were against my bone and were thinner than tissue paper so they put a tube in my left ear and took cartilage from my ear and made me a new ear drum in my right ear and put a tube in it. In my right ear they had to open it up from the back and it was really painful i slept for two week straight. But im still having problems with my ear even though the doctors said the sudgery was great and i healed quickly. Every morning when i wake up there is stuff comming out of my right ear with out fail (gross BELIEVE ME i know) I dunno if it is a good thing or bad thing i know the tudes should allow it to come out instead of building up in my ear and causing infection but its been almost a year since my sudgery. I do have really bad ears they get stuffy still even with the tubes and somedays i can hear slightly better than others which of course was worse b4 i had the sudgery. But im so tired of it and im worried i will have to go for sudgerys every couple of years to keep my hearing intact. I also get vertigo atleast oce a week ill just be sitting there and it will happen and that never happened until after the sudgery. Does anyone know what else could be done?

Answer: I have a VERY similar story to yours. I have also had multiple sets of tubes at a young age and went on to have some major issues later on (a brain tumour formed because my ears weren't draining and they had to go in from behind the ear through the bone (painful!) and gave me a new eardrum (mine was a skin graft from some skin on my scalp). If you are concerned about drainage I would recommend you speak with your healthcare provider. For people like us, it is better to have drainage than not as you mentioned. However, if you are feeling anxious about it you should definitely make sure your doctor is aware of your symptoms and how those symptoms are making you feel. It might be an idea for you to see an ENT to get your ears drained professionally (don't let ANYONE other than a DOCTOR do anything to your ears --- with most people that would be fine, but we have special issues and need a doctor to monitor them). I did that for the first 2 years after my surgery. Maybe that is why I didn't notice the extra drainage? I also had multiple surgeries in succession which might have reduced the amount of drainage. Be sure and mention the vertigo to your doctor as well. Hope this helps! BJC

Question: I have ear reconstructions with tubes how can I FLY? I've had ear surgery many many times before, my ear drum has been repaired many many times. I also have tubes in my ears. Is there a way I can fly in a plan? any new devices i could use to maintain same pressure in my ears as at ground lvl?

Answer: cut them off...... with a knife

Question: What is involved in an Ossicular Chain Reconstruction? My surgeon would like to perform this surgery on me as he thinks i would be the perfect canditate for it. I have about 50% hearing loss in both ears and wear an in the ear hearing aid in the left. I have already had major reconstructive surgery to open up my left ear canal as it was closed up and had excess wax in my ear causing me all sorts of trouble. What exactly is involved with the surgery and how long will i have to wait to see the results

Answer: The answer about what is involved with the surgery very much depends on whether or not a ossicular prosthesis will be used. If yes, the answer is that part or all of your ossicular chain may be removed and titanium bones put in their place. If not, the answer is that a laser will be used to reshape the bones and detach them if they have become fused (stuck) to places they aren't supposed to be sticking to. You may notice better hearing even on the operating table. My ex-husband had this surgery done, and he previously lived very close to an airport. When I called him a couple of days after the surgery to see how he was doing he said "if I knew these airplanes were so $%#@*$)(#@ loud I would have picked a different place to live" He ended up moving, I think that is indicative that the surgery (from the perspective of restoring his hearing) was a raging success

Question: after letting me stretched ears shrink back, can i wear normal earrings? I've had my ears stretched to a size zero for about 8-9 months. I've decided to attempt to let them close up. I've just started this process yesterday and right now without earrings, you can barely tell that i've ever had them stretched. but when i do try to wear long earrings, it pulls the hole down and they definitely look like they've been stretched. so will it just take them more time to tighten up or is my only option ear lobe reconstruction surgery?

Answer: Give it more time. It's going to take longer than just one day! Try again in six months or even a year. This doesn't mean don't wear earings, just nothing that will pull the lobes down. If you still have the same problem then you might want them reconstructed.

Question: Is frequent bleeding normal after surgery and stitiches? just had ear lobe reconstruction done and its been 2 days since i had the procedure, but i was curious if bleeding is normal process of healing my ears back together, if so how long should i wait to let my doctor know?

Answer: A small amount of blood is usually okay after surgery. What you want to watch for is signs of infection. If the area becomes more red, or the incisions starts draining a different colour fluid (i.e. white/green etc.). Also...it would be helpful to take your temperature to make sure you aren't brewing an infection. If it is a small amount of watery blood that it is draining, I'd wait it out a bit longer. But if you are worried...go see your doctor :)

Question: a eight year old boy who has been waiting for minor surgery? for twelve months has gone deaf,now needs major reconstruction on his ear.any comments on our medical system?

Answer: That is definatley a really sad situation. It's really bad, I mean people have to wait and in the process other things go wrong. He just has to be strong and stick it out, he will get through it you just have to believe

Question: help ear painn!!! any adivse? It all started out as a runny nose then it turned into a sinus infection my nose was constantly stuffed up i thought maybe it was a cold and would go away but it has progressivly getting worse. I am prone to ear infections i just had reconstruction sudgery in my right ear around this time last year. Ive had a few minor ear infections since then probably from the cold. But my ear is in so much pain and my gland is so swolen my neck is clearly swolen. I hurts so bad im crying im sick of it. I cant even get a cold without getting an ear infection. My ear doctor is one of the best at christiana hosptial which is known for its ear nose and throat specialist. Im so fed up and aggrovated i want the pain to go away im sick of feeling this way. Im assuming i have a sinus infection aswell as an ear infection. Ive never had a sinus infection this bad i am usually sneezy this time of year from pollen like most people but i think because i have a sinus infection and the pollen its making to 100 times worse. Last night my neck hurt and felt stiff but i thought it was because i slept on it funny then this morning pain started welling up in my ear. Now im nearly in tears. Ive taken tylenol and i have a hot rag on my ear but the pain wont stop. Ive seen a few things about putting oil in my ear but there is no way im risking it. Its making my head hurt. Everyday ive been waking up for the past week with a completelydry mouth from not being able to breath out of my nose its so aggrovating. Im telling you ear infections hurt so bad especially because it is in your head. Does anyone have any suggestions? Maybe a medication you take or what you do to prevent ear infections im willing to try anything accept putting things in my ear.

Answer: I'm so sorry to hear this. If it's never been this bad, then go see your doctor. You may have damged something. Lay on the side of your ear that's NOT hurting. This will allow fluid to drain back into your sinuses. Tell your doctor that you'd like to see an ENT specialist if you haven't already and see what they can do about the frequent infections. Best of luck!

Question: Bleeding ear? I had surgery in december of '05, for reconstruction of my ruptured eardrum. i was going deaf in my last ear so i had to get the surgery. and now i am bleeding through it. i have no pain and nothing major in pain at all. but i am worried. i bled earlier this year and went to the doctors they said that it was fluid coming out and my eardrum looked fine it should stop bleeding after i took some drops and now im bleeding again! someone please help?

Answer: Ears bleeding is never a good sign. Do not hesistate to go to the hospital or your doctor.

Question: I had problems stretching my ear, and now the skin is to thin, what should I do? For a couple of years I'd been slowly stretching my ears. Last September I got my left lobe to 19mm, but by the time I got to 12mm in my right ear, the skin of my lobe was literally 1mm thick. The piercer I frequent said that the piercing was probably too low down, and that I'd have to take out the plug and leave it to thicken. This was over 4 months ago, and in that time I've been religiously massaging vitamin E oil into the skin. It's shrunk to about 0 gauge, but the skin is still only about 4mm thick, so it's quite ugly and saggy looking. The piercer I spoke to said that after a year or two, she'd repierce it higher up so I could start stretching again, but I can't see the skin getting any thicker than this. Does anybody know any ways of encouraging too-thin ear lobes to thicken? Failing that, does anybody in the UK know anything about reconstruction surgery, and how much it might cost? I'm assuming the NHS doesn't offer it. Sorry for the novel, thanks in advance! :)

Answer: The Vitamin E oil might help.. If the skin is too thick to continue stretching your best bet would be to have a piercer scalpel it to whatever size your goal is, so they can scalpel it upword to where the skin isn't thin. As for the surgery cost, I wouldn't have the slightest Idea, sorry!