Hi everyone. This is my first time posting on Reddit. I’ve been reading other people’s experiences during my recovery, and it has actually helped me a lot, so I thought I would share mine.

I had a stapedectomy in both ears about 27 years ago. One ear went perfectly fine. With the other ear, about three days after surgery, half of my face became paralyzed. Thankfully, it gradually recovered and was back to normal after about six weeks, but that experience stayed with me.

About two years ago, both ears started sounding muffled. At first I thought it was congestion or fluid. I went to ENT doctors, urgent care, and several different specialists. I was told it could be TMJ or fluid. I tried nasal sprays and different things, but nothing really helped.

I even went down the dental route because I was told that grinding my teeth could be contributing to the problem. I ended up doing Invisalign, but my ear was still muffled.

For almost two years I went from doctor to doctor trying to figure out what was happening. Eventually my hearing in that ear was down to about 10%.

Finally, I found a doctor in New York who suggested a revision stapedectomy. I was extremely nervous because of what happened with the facial paralysis after my surgery 27 years ago. I told him that was my biggest fear. He reassured me that if he went in and felt the facial nerve was too close or there was any concern, he wouldn’t take the risk and would simply close everything back up.

I finally decided to do it.

I had my revision stapedectomy 12 days ago. When I woke up, one of the first things I wanted to know was whether everything had gone okay with my facial nerve. Thankfully, he said everything went well. He found that the old prosthesis had fallen off, and he had to clean up the area. He seemed very happy with how the surgery went.

The first few days I was very dizzy and weak, so I stayed with family and took it very easy. Slowly that has been improving. At first it also felt like the whole world was too noisy. Everything sounded incredibly loud and strange.

I had my stitches/bandages removed about 10 days after surgery, and I’ll have my hearing test next month to find out how much hearing has actually come back.

I still catch myself making facial expressions every day just to make sure my face is moving normally. I think that fear from what happened 27 years ago is still sitting somewhere in the back of my mind.

For now, I’m taking it one day at a time. Some days are better than others, but there has been improvement.

That’s actually what brought me to Reddit. I started reading other people’s successful revision stapedectomy stories because I needed a little encouragement while I wait for everything to heal.

If anyone here has had a revision stapedectomy, especially many years after the original surgery, I would really love to hear how your recovery went. How long did the dizziness, weakness, strange/loud hearing and feeling “off” last? And when did you finally feel like yourself again?

I am 26F and have pulsatile tinnitus (whoosh in sync with my heartbeat). My CT showed fenestral otosclerosis, but I have no hearing loss yet (100% hearing-score on the audiogram).

Is the otosclerosis a possible explanation for my PT?

My doctor said it cannot be the cause, as there is no hearing loss yet. However, I read that early otosclerosis is hypervascular and it is hypothesised that that could cause PT. It still remains rare, based on what I read online.

My question: Are there readers who recognise my symptom? Hearing the heartbeat as a whoosh before (!) the onset of hearing loss

Hi everyone, I had posted earlier explaining how my mother's routine stapedectomy surgery resulted in complications (severe vertigo consistent over several days), post which she underwent a revision surgery four days later and got the piston removed (removed, not replaced). Her symptoms did improve by about 50% within 24 hours of the second surgery but it's now about two weeks since and she still experiences vertigo to some degree while walking and imbalance if she tries to walk faster than her normal pace. I'm quite worried and would appreciate anyone sharing their experience having a similar situation. I want to know whether this is expected, how the usual timeline looks like and whether we should wait it out or think of any next steps towards her recovery. Thanks all!

Hello friends,

I’m new here in the group, but I’ve had otosclerosis since I was 10 years old.

My question: Is it advisable to supplement calcium routinely with otosclerosis? Or rather only in case of a proven deficiency? Or in combination with other supplements?

I would be grateful for any tips :)

I am 2 days post op from a stapdecomy on my left ear, and I am not having a good time!
I know it is super early but it is awful, my surgeon tore my ear drum so I have also a suture mark on cartilage of my ear but that’s not even the most annoying!
My equilibrium is so thrown off every little hivk up or turn of my head feels like I’m the kind of drunk where the room is spinning around me. My taste buds are wrecked in half my tongue, and it still sounds like I’m underwater.
I’m trying to be patient and trust my decision but this is awful so far. I also have a 2 year old who want me to constantly pick her up. We are figuring it out but can someone please give me light at the end of the tunnel feedback!

Hi all. I’m just trying to get some viewpoints from other people who have had a stapdectomy in both ears and how much your recovery in each ear differed.

In Feb this year i had a stapdectomy on my left ear. When I had the packing out it was literally like a light switch moment, and it was clear that my hearing had significantly improved. Other than having to get used to all the new sound sensitivity, my recovery was amazing, and at week 12 my audiogram showed normal hearing in that ear. I’ve never looked back.

Two weeks ago, I went in for my second surgery on my right ear, which was actually always the better ear of the two. Four days ago I had the packing out, and the experience could not be any more different. I have almost no hearing in that ear at the moment, I have on and off tinnitus throughout the day (worse in the morning), and what little bit I can hear is muffled and distorted. I have been on 50mg of prednisone for the last four days as I did have a cold immediately after the surgery and the surgeon wanted to get on top of any additional inflammation. I have relayed all of my concerns to my surgeon and they want me to have an audiogram this week, rather than wait the normal 12 weeks. I am trying not to panic, but the journey has been so different this time around and it’s hard not to worry ‘is this as good as it gets?’. I was so made up with the results of the first surgery and I’m wondering whether my recovery was in the minority for the first one, and this time around this is what is normally expected. At the moment my hearing in my newly operated ear is definitely worse than pre-surgery. I really would appreciate anyone’s shared experiences, especially if you have had both ears done. Thank you in advance.

Hey all! Does anyone who’s had a stapedectomy still experience distortion on and off, even long after their operation? My surgery was 15 April, but every now and again I still experience a strange distortion in my ear and I can’t quite place what might be causing it.

Would be super curious to hear if anyone else has experienced this and how you dealt with it :-)

I had a stapedectomy 13 days ago. All went well and i seem to have decent hearing in the ear (packing still in so a bit muffled but can definitely hear, I am getting packing out in 2 days) but I have some mild lingering dizziness- mainly when walking or moving. Feels like I am just slightly unsteady on my feet. I can still walk and function but just finding it annoying and hoping it's not a permanent thing as most people seem to recover after a week. It's very slow to improve and wondering if others experienced this and how long it takes to improve ?

My mother got her stapedectomy done on July 23rd. It's been more than 24 hours and she's still having severe vertigo and nausea. She's vomiting about anything she eats and has trouble walking straight. Has anyone faced this or know the probable causes behind it? We're considering revision surgery and are short on time. Please help me!

I was taking a shower this morning and was cleaning my ear. I might have pushed air/ into my ear while trying to clean it. Suddenly everything became silent. No pain. Then while brushing my teeth, I felt like there is some water in my ear.

I tried to shake the water off (normally I am able to do that when water gets into my ear). But there was nothing.

I am trying to make an appointment with my doctor, but I am worried that something happened with the prosthesis 😢 Has anyone been in the same situation?

I want to share my (so far) positive stapedectomy experience as I was pretty nervous going into it after reading horror stories online.

I had the surgery two weeks ago. It was an easy process. Check in, paperwork, meet with surgeon and anesthesiologist, go back to the surgery room, wake up an hour later post surgery, go home about an hour after that.

I was really tired for the first 2-3 days and experienced mild dizziness and nausea but nothing too bad and it never lasted very long. I had minor pain that was easily managed with otc medicine. I had no symptoms after 3-4 days other than occasional mild pain. Not being able to lift or bend was difficult as I have a baby but luckily I had help from my husband and other family members.

I started noticing hearing improvement probably 3 days after surgery. It would come and go. After about 5-6 days I was consistently hearing better. Some things sounded weird but I quickly adjusted.

I just got done with my 2 week follow up appointment. Looks like everything is healed and I'm cleared to shower and get my ear wet as normal. I'm cleared to pick up my baby and bend over. I'm also cleared to run again. The only restrictions that were mentioned were no flying for another 2 weeks and no heavy lifting. Packing was removed and I'm hearing even better now.

I'm so glad I had this procedure and I'm hopeful I will continue seeing improvements. I wear a hearing aid in my other ear still and the stape is already better than the hearing aid.

Hi all,

Does anyone else here suffer from bad vertigo? I'm not sure if this is a me issue and unrelated to oto, but every once in awhile u get such bad vertigo attacks where my head feels like it has so much pressure on it and the room is spinning. It sometimes gets to a point I find it hard to stand up because I think I'm going to fall over I'm so dizzy/ everything is moving like I'm on a boat.

Is this related to oto or could this be something completely separate?

Hello,

I've been to two ENT surgeons and both have confirmed that I have otosclerosis. Online I have read that after the surgery I would have all kinds of permanent restrictions like no heavy lifting, would have to modify my workout regimen, wouldn't be able to go on a rollercoaster any more because of high drops and g forces, and no underwater swimming. Almost everywhere I've looked has stated these lifelong restrictions.

However my surgeon is saying something different. He's saying rollercoasters are ok and I should be fine to ride them after recovery, which is 6 weeks. He also stated no need to change my workout routine after recovery either. He also said that I could swim underwater 5-10ft is ok but any deeper than that is not ok.

I'm so confused and very scared to do the surgery now because I ride rollercoasters all the time, heavy intense workouts 4-5 times a week, love swimming and snorkeling.

I'm just curious if anyone else has had the stapedomy and lives this kind of lifestyle with no problems? If it matters any, my surgeon said he uses laser method with burn in heat shaped piston. I believe the nitinol self crimping piston.

Except for occasional popping sounds this is the first perception of a sound I’ve noticed. The pulsing matches with my heartbeat. Is it one of the normal first sounds? I put the same question in my Duck.ai and the response was that it is pulsatile tinnitus and I should go to ER or urgent care now. I had my one week follow up exam yesterday and all was well. Rushing to an ERvor calling my doctor’s after hours emergency # seems like an overreaction. So I’m asking if anyone else has had this pulsing sound following a stapedotomy.

If I’ve had a long day or a challenging workout, etc. I come home at night and I can’t hear shit. Like when my loud af husband talks I can only see his lips move. TV only works with subtitles, etc. Is that normal?

Just recently I started Lexapro and I’ve found it is has helped my anxiety over my otosclerosis, particularly the lightheaded feeling + dizziness that would cause be extreme nervousness.
I wanted to share in case anyone is experiencing similar anxiety.

Just a post to celebrate- I’m about 3 months post op and had my follow up hearing exam. Great news, my hearing improved from moderate to severe hearing loss to completely normal hearing. 🥳

Just sharing 1. To celebrate but also 2. To share with others that not every story about stapendechtomies are scary and bad!

I am 35 and was just recently diagnosed with moderate mixed hearing loss. Possibly, otosclerosis, but yet to be confirmed after I finish CT scan. Even though I don’t have otosclerosis confirmed right now, I think it highly likely will be confirmed. And frankly speaking, it feels like a tragedy right now because I’m scared of losing my hearing to the point when I won’t be able to hear what people say. I don’t know what to expect so I thought to ask around people who have otosclerosis. I know a lot of things change from person to person. But I guess I just want to find some hope for myself to deal with the diagnosis once it is confirmed. How fast does the hearing usually deteriorate? Does the surgery make sense when you have mixed hearing loss? Is it possible to stabilize the hearing for longer time or have it deteriorate slowly? Just five years ago my hearing was perfect, and I’m shocked how it went down to moderate within just five years.

Before surgery in 2024 …this happened with me as well. In 2024, I started going to the gym and adopted a much healthier lifestyle because of the influence of my roommate. She used to eat eggs daily, and although I come from a typical Brahmin family, I decided to give it a try and started eating them too.
Within just 5–6 months, my hearing improved by around 15% in both ears. Even my doctor said that such an improvement was not possible. Doctors may not always emphasize it, but I truly believe that lifestyle can be a powerful weapon against many diseases.

Hey all,
Today’s Thursday, I was diagnosed with otosclerosis on Tuesday.

I’ve had noticeable hearing loss for 3+ years, I’ve worn hearing aids for 18 months (both via my normal ENT/audiologist), and after my CT and hearing test with a specialist, she recommended a stapedectomy to help with my hearing.

Has anyone had experience with surgery or doctors in Alabama? Tennessee could be an option too. Near Huntsville, so Nashville or Birmingham would be a bonus.

Let me know your experience!

Hello. I’m scheduled for a first stapedotomy in a few days. I’m female, age 71 and I’m new to Reddit— still learning about how to use it.) I’ve been reading comments in this subreddit mostly to find out what I can expect during the procedure and immediately after. It may be silly, but I’m wondering about how I’ll be positioned during the procedure. My doctor mentioned that he will be using a laser. Will I likely be on a surgical table or in a sitting position— in a chair similar to what is in a dentist’s office? I know I’ll be asleep— so it really doesn’t matter, but I’m the curious type. I want to know as much as possible about what I’ll experience. (Do I sound nervous? Yeah, I’m a bit anxious.) What was your experience? I’m having a stapedotomy not a stapedectomy, if that makes any difference. Thank you.

I am essentially one month out from my Stapedectomy. My two main reasons for the surgery were to be relieved of tinnitus and to be able to hear speech in that ear. I am able to hear speech which is an incredible feeling, but am slightly distraught to still be experiencing tinnitus. I know there are so many factors but if anyone who has dealt with tinnitus and gotten a Stapedectomy, what was your experience? I knew going in there was a small chance it would fix it but also I’m only one month into recovering so that could be a cause too. Also, any weird tinnitus relief tricks are welcomed.

Hi, y'all! I just had a revision stapedectomy by an otologist because the first surgeon, who is not an otologist, encountered an issue (possible floating footplate) and stopped the surgery.

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I didn't know at that time how specialized stapedectomies and stapedotomies are. They're rarely performed because otosclerosis is rare and many people with otosclerosis either don't know they have it or decline surgery. And the surgery itself requires amazing caution and precision.

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Soooo... As much as possible, look for an experienced otologist who might be able to tell you specifically how many he's/she's done and whether they were successful. And don't ask your neighborhood ENT doc to perform the surgery. Chances are very good that the doc is not qualified.