Patient Advice Following Ear Surgery

You have had a procedure to your ear. You may have a bandage around your head and ear and you may have packing inside your ear. You may have a small dressing over the ear. Some ear procedures may also involve a cut above the ear opening or behind the ear. The nurses in Day Surgery will give you more information about this before you leave the department.

You may experience discomfort and aching. Please take regular pain relief as necessary and follow the instructions on the packet.

Wound/dressing

You have a bandage around your head and ear. Please remove this bandage after ……… hours/days.

You have packing inside your ear. This will be removed in outpatients on ………………… at ……………..………………………………… hospital.

You have a dressing over your ear. Please remove this dressing in .…… hours/days.

If you have packing inside your ear, don’t be alarmed if some of it falls out. If this occurs, you can trim the loose ends of the dressing that are sticking out of the ear with scissors and leave the rest inside your ear.

You should keep your ear dry. You can plug the ear with cotton wool coated in Vaseline when you are having a shower or washing your hair. You may notice a small amount of discharge from the ear canal which usually comes from the dressings inside the ear. You can also use cotton wool inside the ear to catch the discharge to prevent it leaking onto bed linen etc.

Observe the wound for increased pain and inflammation. If you have any concerns, please contact your GP or ENT Department for advice.

Stitches

You may have stitches on the inside or outside of your ear.

You have dissolvable stitches, which usually take ………… to ……….. days to dissolve.

You have stitches that need to be removed. Please make an appointment with the practice nurse at your GP surgery on ………………………………………………….. for removal.

You have stitches that need to be removed in the ENT Outpatients Department. Please attend your appointment on ……………………………………………… /date to be posted.

After the operation

You may experience some dizziness after the operation; this is normal. Avoid air travel until cleared by your surgeon. Avoid swimming, and dunking of the head is not recommended. Please avoid blowing your nose until your outpatient’s appointment.

It is natural to feel tired as this is your body’s natural reaction to the stress of the procedure. Take it easy for the next couple of days, but ensure that you take regular short walks to help the circulation in your legs.

Driving/work

If you have had a general anaesthetic or sedation you must not drive for 24 hours. This is a requirement of the Road Traffic Act.

Your own circumstances will determine when you can return to work. You can self-certify for one week. If further time off is required, please ask for a fit note on admission.

Contact numbers

We hope that you have found this information useful. If you have any questions or are worried about anything, please speak to the following Dorset County Hospital staff:

GP or out of hours GP
NHS Direct: 111
Dorchester Day Surgery Unit: 01305 254501
Lulworth Ward after 8pm: 01305 255471
Abbotsbury Ward after 8pm: 01305 255150
ENT Outpatients: 01305 254299

About this leaflet

Author: Laura Gower, Staff Nurse
Written: April 2020
Updated and approved: : Kayleigh Fairchild, Deputy sister, August 2025
Review date: August 2028
Edition: v2

If you have feedback regarding the accuracy of the information contained in this leaflet, or if you would like a list of references used to develop this leaflet, please email patientinformation.leaflets@dchft.nhs.uk