Tympanoplasty

graham47

10-Year Member
5-Year Member
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Dec 31, 2007
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My son is a sophomore in high school. When he was in second grade, he had a tympanoplasty after a history of chronic ear infections and a perforation. He has perfect hearing in both ears, plays the trombone, speaks French and plays football. He will be applying for the class of 2014 at West Point. Should I take him for a complete hearing test now, or will the pediatrician's hearing test suffice? I just want to be prepared since I have heard that this is a disqualifying condition. Thanks for your help.
 
My son had a tympanoplasty performed after discovering during his DODMERB physical that he had a perforation in his tympanic membrane. As soon as he had healed from surgery his doctor wrote the notes requested from the waiver authority and he was given a waiver. Since your son's was so long ago, I wouldn't jump the gun. Wait and see what happens during his physical, and then if you need a waiver they will specify exactly what they want. As I remember, the disqualification wasn't so much a hearing issue as worrying about having contaminants enter the inner ear through the perforation.
 
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The hearing test is part of the DODMERB screening; it won't matter if you've already done one--they will do their own.
 
As long as the tympanoplasty is completely healed, there is no residual perforation, and his hearing has been noted as normal in the past, I would not worry about it. A hearing test will be given as part of the physical examination, so getting one now will not make a difference.

I wouldn't be concerned at this point in time, once your son has his physical examination and the results are back from DoDMERB we can revisit the issue (if there is one), but in my experience as long as there is no current perforation and his physician has said his hearing is normal there will be no issues.
 
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