Hearing improvement rates high for chronic ear disease surgery. Surgeon increases results through years of experience.

By Nick Rees

Chronic ear disease can result in a loss of hearing, but surgery, including ear drum repair, or tympanoplasty, and repair of the conducting bones in the ear have shown remarkably high levels of hearing restoration.

"Because of varying circumstances, people suffering from chronic ear disease may have hearing loss and infectious problems of the ear that don't resolve with medical treatment," Dr. Stephen Yeh, MD, selected by TopTierMD as one of Chicago’s top rated otolaryngologist, said. "Sometimes, surgery can be done to repair ear drums or remove chronic growths from the ear, which will get rid of chronic infections and restore hearing.

"These procedures are usually performed while a person is under anesthesia. Almost all of these procedures are completed as outpatient procedures, so patients can go home the same day."

“The aim of chronic ear disease surgeries is to restore or preserve a patient's hearing. Careful patient selection produces high success rates” explains Yeh.

"For people who are amenable to these procedures, the success rate, in terms of ear drum repair, is generally 90 percent for intact ear drum restoration," Dr. Yeh said. "With regard to hearing improvement the majority of patients have improved hearing."

The procedure to repair the ear drum is done through the ear canal and requires no external incisions.

"We use an operating microscope to see," Dr. Yeh said. "Sometimes we do have to make an incision behind the ear but, in either case, it doesn't leave a visible scar."

Recovery from the surgery takes between six to eight weeks before full results can be appreciated, according to Dr. Yeh, but most people are able to return to normal activity within two weeks.

"I've been doing this procedure for about 35 years," Dr. Yeh said. "The interesting thing is that the people do most of these procedures are who are better at them are those who were trained in earlier years because they have more experience. The newer grads don't feel as comfortable because these types of cases are becoming less frequent. Having done this procedure for a long time, I'm very comfortable with it."

Dr. Stephen Yeh, MD, was selected by TopTierMD as a Chicago Top Doctor and is considered Best in Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery in Chicago. He specializes in surgical treatment of chronic ear disease, salivary glands and chronic sinusitis.