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A cholesteatoma is a growth that usually only affects the inside of 1 ear.
Common symptoms may include:
Cholesteatoma can also cause:
Rarely, a cholesteatoma infection can cause a brain abscess or meningitis.
These can be signs of a stroke, which is a medical emergency.
If you have symptoms of cholesteatoma, a GP will examine the inside of your ear.
If they think you have an infection caused by a cholesteatoma, they may give you ear drops.
You may then be referred to an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist for more tests, including a CT scan.
If they think your symptoms are caused by a bacterial ear infection, they can treat you.
You'll usually have surgery in hospital to remove a cholesteatoma.
Surgery involves removing the build-up of dead skin cells while you're under general anaesthetic.
You may be able to go home the same day, or you may need to stay in hospital overnight. If there are any problems, you may have to stay in hospital for longer.
If a cholesteatoma affects your hearing, surgery may help to improve it. Surgery does not always help, however, and your hearing may stay the same or, possibly, get worse.
You may have stitches and packing in your ear to stop any bleeding. These will be removed after a few weeks.
Most people take 6 to 8 weeks to fully recover after surgery, but you’ll still need long-term follow-up care to check there are no problems.
If surgery did not completely remove the cholesteatoma, you may need another procedure.
It may take some time to fully recover from cholesteatoma surgery and it can be painful. You may be advised not to work for 1 to 2 weeks or longer.
There are things you can do to help your ear get better.
keep the affected ear dry when showering
plug your ear with a small piece of Vaseline-coated cotton wool if you wash your hair
check with the surgeon first if you need to travel by plane following surgery
try to keep your mouth open if you sneeze
do not swim for at least 6 weeks after surgery, if you can avoid it
do not blow your nose after surgery – the surgeon will tell you when it's OK to do so again, but you can sniff if you need to
If you have any problems after surgery, speak to a GP.
Call 111 or get help from 111 online.
If you have any of these symptoms, it may be a sign of an infection.
A cholesteatoma can develop if your eardrum is damaged through injury, infection or after any kind of ear surgery.
You can also be born with a cholesteatoma, but this is rare.
