Cholesteatoma

In the middle ear, that tiny space behind the eardrum, something is growing that doesn't belong there. An accumulation of skin cells building up layer by layer — benign in its cellular structure, but destructive in its effect. For as this mass grows, it quietly dissolves the bone that surrounds it. The ossicles, the boundary to the inner ear, sometimes even the thin wall to the skull base. What builds up like a wall eats away the substance beneath it. Medically, cholesteatoma is an epidermal cyst that must be surgically removed — otherwise hearing loss, dizziness, infections, and in rare cases severe complications may follow.