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.
tympanic membrane. a thin, semitransparent membrane in the middle ear that transmits sound vibrations to the internal ear by means of the auditory ossicles. It is nearly oval in form, with a vertical diameter of about 10 mm, and separates the tympanic cavity from the bottom of the external acoustic meatus.