Many patients are curious: Isn’t it more important to keep the ear dry when there is inflammation in the ear? Why do you need ear drops after otitis media surgery? In fact, surgery is only to repair the eardrum or to reconstruct hearing as appropriate, but before the tympanic chamber is fully epithelialized, the ear canal will still produce secretions such as earwax, inflammatory secretions, and wound crusts. If not cleaned in a timely manner, it will accumulate in the external ear canal, blocking the ear canal and affecting hearing on the one hand; on the other hand, the secretions can cause secondary infections that can lead to otitis externa or eczema of the external ear canal. Therefore, it is necessary to clean the ear canal secretions regularly after surgery. If the crusts are hard or the secretions are so clumped that they cannot be removed directly, it is necessary to soften them with sodium bicarbonate ear drops and perform external ear canal rinsing. Use the ear drops as follows: 1. Before the drops: Clean your hands with running water and soap and hold the bottle in your hands for a few minutes so that the temperature of the drops is close to your body temperature. 2. When the drops are applied: Generally take a sitting position with your head on the side or lie on your side in bed, with the opening of the external ear canal on the affected side upwards, pull the auricle and straighten the external ear canal, and slowly drop the drops into the ear along the external ear canal according to the number of drops specified by the doctor. The dropper should not touch the wall of the external ear canal to avoid bacterial contamination of the dropper. 3. After the drops are applied: keep the original position for 3-5 minutes and gently press the ear screen with your finger 3-5 times to make the drops reach the affected area by external force. Some patients suffering from chronic purulent otitis media, who are more experienced in ear drops because of long-term repeated pus flow, can swab the purulent secretions in the ear with a sterilized dry cotton swab before using the ear drops, or clean the purulent secretions in the ear canal with 3% hydrogen peroxide (the temperature of the hydrogen peroxide should also be close to the body temperature). After cleaning, swab the external ear canal with a sterilized ten-cotton swab, and then apply drops to maximize the efficacy of the medication. If the eardrum is epithelialized and the discharge from the external ear canal cannot lead to secondary infection, there is no need to use ear drops. If there is earwax in the external ear canal, just pull it out normally with a medical cotton swab and do not dig your ears hard. If the eardrum grows a bud after surgery, it cannot be removed by using ear drops, so it should be removed in the same way as cleaning the bud, for example, by cauterizing it with special medication or by directly clamping it out with fiber pliers.