Perforated ear drum surgery.

[Bobby503]

I have been suffering with an ear infection for the last few weeks.My ear drum perforated last week and I have been told it’s a large perforation
( 50% tissue damage ) and have been referred to ENT. I think the GP was implying that it would be unlikely to heal and I would need surgery.
i think that this would be a Myringaplasty operation.
Has anyone had a successful outcome with a large perforation healing by itself?
And also has anyone had a successful outcome of the operation?

I had this procedure done as a 12 year old, it was absolutely easy and fine, from what I remember. I couldn't play sport for a while so the patch on my eardrum wouldn't knock off.

My son had a repair done just before he started secondary school. It went very well, all he remembers about it was when they removed the packing from the ear.
Very fine scar behind ear, his hearing is not so good in that ear but it isn't an issue.

Yes, perforated eardrum from an abcess on it one Good Friday aged 12. Got missed as a locum did a house visit (so many years ago). When I went to ENT to cautherise my nose to stop heavy nosebleeds it was picked up and hearing tests started. 2 x grommetts aged 13 & 14 then 2 x T tubes, which were pulled out rather then fell out of own accord like grommets. Then Myringaplasty aged 26 so 25yrs ago. A tactless nurse came along with a BIC razor on a tray, said Mr.... likes a good shave and just hacked off an inch all around and about my ear lol. Luckily I was growing my hair so had a just enough to cover it. Although the hairdresser did say who cut your hair last time when i showed up with a one sided undercut! They cut a bit of muscle from behind the ear, scrapped to make a fine membrane and glued it over like a puncture repair kit. It was packed with about 3foot of gauze and it did great dry and scrathy towards the end of the fortnight recovery. I had one night in hospital after but may be a day surgery now. I went back to ENT outpatients after two weeks and they just pulled the gauze out...like hankies out of a magicians hat. Amazed how much fitted in. Quick check/look in and they said it was all ok. There may be a faint scar but i have never seen it as 1cm behind my ear. I do have a moderate hearing loss and now a hearing aid but this has been over 40 yrs. Bonus of that is i can get a disabled railcard. Good luck.

Had this surgery when I was 14 due to a hole caused when I was a baby. I am 34 now and the graft is still in place even after another surgery to replace the bones I lost behind it. It held up super well. I am 34 now so it was 20 years ago so sure its come a long way since then.

I was in hospital overnight. Felt a bit dizzy for a few days (I've had several ear surgeries and thst is very common), needed to avoid it getting wet for a few weeks and avoid any impact like contact sports and flying I think for 12 weeks. But that was 20 years ago.

I’m having one soon. I have already had two mastoid operations on the other ear and the second one, which involved replacing the missing bones with plastic ones, also involved making me a new eardrum with skin grafted from behind the ear. This time it is just for the eardrum - same procedure with the skin graft. It is amazing what can be done now. My first mastoidectomy was in 1975 when I was ten. I was in hospital for two weeks and off school for most of the rest of the half term. It was urgent surgery but I was left with no middle ear, a permanently perforated eardrum and a severe hearing loss in that ear which could not be helped by a hearing aid. My good ear had to make up for it. Even so, I had many ear infections over the years, including a burst abscess when I was thirteen, which led to the second mastoid operation in 2010, which has been a complete success. This time I was in hospital overnight and off work for three weeks. Unfortunately, I started to have problems with the “good” ear during lockdown, which is why I am going to have this operation. It seems much more minor in comparison with what I had before. I also wear two hearing aids but I think this is unsurprising under the circumstances.

Thank you so much everyone.
Its great to hear some positive outcomes.
Violinist64 you’ve been through a lot.
It is so frustrating not being able to hear properly.
I am just trying to keep myself going until my ENT appointment next Tuesday.
I will let you know how I get on.
My concern is that the hole is so big they can’t operate successfully!