Patient: Description (onset time, main symptoms, hospital visited, etc.): Hello Uncle Chen, I had my left ear stirrup surgery on January 19, and the stitches were removed on the 29th, and the result is very good, you said it basically reached the hearing level of a normal person. Really thank you so much ！！！！ Now I think the sound is too loud and I’m still getting used to it. I have some questions for you: 1. Do I have to stop myself from sneezing and coughing? I basically can’t control it, does it affect my ears much? 3. Can I sleep with pressure on my left ear at night? Bing Chen, Department of Otolaryngology, Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital of Fudan University: The hearing improvement after stapes surgery is faster than tympanoplasty, and it is almost “immediate”. Generally speaking, when the stuffing is removed from the external ear canal a week or so after surgery, most patients will feel a different degree of hearing improvement, and some patients may even feel that the external sound is “too noisy” and even block the external ear canal with cotton balls or other things. This is actually the reason why hearing has improved significantly. Of course, there are a few patients who feel that their hearing is slowly improving. In the case of hearing reconstruction for chronic otitis media, the patient’s hearing improvement often takes several months and is significantly slower than with artificial stapes. Now to answer some of your questions: A few weeks after surgery, after the eardrum has fully grown, it is no longer necessary to plug the cotton ball, and it is advisable to do so more than one month after surgery. After surgery, you can sleep on either side, and if you have vertigo, it is recommended to lie flat.