I have finished the second week of my four week recovery and things are going well.
The healing cap fell off 4 days after surgery. My wife started applying Neosporin cream twice a day to prevent infection. Six days after surgery, I had a followup with the surgeon. He said it was healing well but recommended switching to an ointment to keep the wound moist and promote healing.
After the meeting, I scheduled another followup with the surgeon for week 3 and a time with an audiologist for week 4 to get the device. This is the point where I get actual start to get some benefit. Until then, I'm just walking around with a useless screw in my head.
Okay, the rest of today's post is more about the nuts and bolts (so to speak) of recovery. The result is that it might not be of much interest to anyone other than those seriously considering the procedure. Read on at your own risk (of boredom.)
After switching to the ointment, it only took two days to realize that putting ointment in the scalp like this quickly builds up into a greasy mess, even with a regular shampoo wash. Reading online I came up with a simple solution of once a week using a clarifying shampoo. The rest of the time using my regular brand of Free and Clear. In general, always use very hot water to help break up the oil and do a double washing around the area. This is doing a very good job of helping keep the oil from building up.
Showering and drying are important activities to be careful with. Tugs on the scalp nearby seem to affect the skin trying to get secure around the screw. While the bone fuses well with the titanium, the skin does not fuse strongly. It is hard to avoid the skin tugs and every tug seems like it is a setback for skin healing.
Drying hair was surprisingly hard. I used my left hand to hold the scalp around the screw stable and could use the towel elsewhere to dry the rest of my hair. In general, try to blow dry instead.
Speaking of hair, I'm not at all eager to go to a barber after surgery. I'm not sure if they
Lesson Learned: I should have had my hair cut short before surgery - it probably would have helped reduce some of the scalp tugs.
I had never heard the term osseointegration before reading about bone conduction hearing devices. This refers to how the bone fuses to the titanium implant. The osseointegration seems to be going well.
The manufacturers have made improvements to the titanium implant to help it fuse more quickly and strongly. One change was that the screw has a wider diameter. This helps provide more surface area for bonding as well as providing more mechanical strength. Also, they have incorporated a laser etching to roughen the titanium surface at a molecular level to also provide surface area for a faster and stronger bond.
I've read testimonials from people that have had the surgery a decade ago. For example, the blog Life with Sudden Sensorial Hearing Loss shows pictures from the author's surgery in 2009. When I see this, I am thankful that the surgical procedure has advanced even more than the electronics. I'm looking forward to getting the device in a week and a half! I know that I need to temper my expectations but I hope that results will also be better.
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