Q: My mother is 62 years old, retired and living all alone in her house. She has been suffering from high BP and sciatica for the last ten years. Taking only homeopathic medicine for all these years. She had developed some problem in her one ear and had some wobbled sounds in her one year. When she visited the ENT specialist, she was given some medicine and was told to do some exercises. And she was told that she had a hole in her eardrum. I wanted to know what medications she should take and whether her ears can get back to normal and how long will it take. And what are the other precautions, which she should follow to prevent further deterioration?

A:It would be hard to give you accurate advice without knowing exactly what has happened to the ear. If it is true that there is a hole in the eardrum, and if this is recent and a very small hole, it may close on its own in a month or two. If not, and if your mother is having a lot of bother due to it, it may have to be closed surgically. If she is not bothered by it to any great extent, it is very likely she may be advised to leave things as they are and may not need to have anything done. She should not allow water to enter her ear.