Recovery time for most patients is about 4 months. During this time many people will experience nighttime pain, stiffness, popping, catching, and feelings of tightness. All of that is normal! In fact, most people continue to experience symptoms for up to a year from the time of surgery.
Normal appearance of the tympanic membrane. (Figures 1, 2, and 3 courtesy of Janet Griffin, MD, Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron, Ohio.) Acute otitis media with effusion. The tympanic membrane is injected but landmarks are still clearly visualized. Acute otitis media. The tympanic membrane is bulging and hyperemic, and yellow purulent fluid is seen in the middle ear space.
[L. membrana tympani] The tympanic membrane that separates the inner end of the external auditory canal (the meatus) from the middle ear. The outer side of the drum is covered with thin skin and to the inner side is attached the malleus, first of the three tiny bones, the auditory ossicles. see TYMPANIC MEMBRANE.