As I mentioned in our last post, when it comes to our hearing the smallest bones in the human body are essential to our hearing. These bones however can have problems such as otosclerosis–a condition where the softer parts of the stirrup (stape) harden thus making it harder for the bones to vibrate causing hearing loss. If not treated as soon as possible, this condition will cause deafness in both ears. There is a procedure to repair it with a surgery known as a stapedectomy. An audiologist would diagnose the problem but is performed by a specialized ear surgeon.
The Stapedectomy is a process where the stapes are removed from the inner-ear. Once removed, it is replaced by a prosthetic. After this process, the ear drum (which is gently opened to insert the stape) is resealed gently and held in place with a packing ointment or gelatin. The benefits to this surgery are rather remarkable.
1. This surgery does not require cutting open the whole ear or head. They make small incision using lasers to open up the inner ear–which are very precise.
2. According to research, approximately 90% of the people who have had this procedure resulted in improvement in the ear.
3. Eight percent experience minor improvement of hearing.
4. There is a very low rate of complications occurring from the surgery.
5. In some situation if the patient has tinnitus, it has also helped alleviate tinnitus.
6. The whole procedure takes about one and a half hours to complete.
After the surgery is complete, it is common to experience dizziness for a couple of days–two days is typical. Eardrops are given to the patient for the next 5 days and a week after the operation any type of gelatin used to hold the eardrum in place is removed. Hearing will improve gradually over the next three months. Most often, this operation is performed in one ear and then if needed the second operation in the other ear, as to allow recovery from the first ear. Make sure to consult the audiologist and surgeon to make sure when it is safe to return to work and travel–especially by air.
Like other surgeries, some complications may occur–two percent of patients may have an increase in hearing loss as a result of this surgery. Other complications may include vertigo, a weakening in taste, ringing in the ears and a perforated (punctured) eardrum. Fortunately this is very rare.
Tags: hearing loss, inner ear, stapes, surgery
