Photo: Andre Silva

In Conversation With Mark Boyd: Life After Surfer's Ear Surgery

Mark Boyd had surfer's ear surgery after years of surfing with ears that filled with water and cost him his hearing for stretches at a time. A month on, he is still waiting for the hearing in his left ear to come back.

Hey Mark, how is the recovery process going? How long do you need to be out of the water?

Mark: I was supposed to be out of the water for six weeks, but unfortunately, there have been a few complications, so I might be out for a bit longer. They kept me in overnight after the operation, but I ended up back in hospital about a week later because it became infected. It's now nearly a month since the operation, and I still haven't regained any hearing. There was quite a lot of blood in my ear canal initially, and I've also developed tinnitus. I've been back to the hospital a couple more times since then to have my ear microsuctioned. The last time, they managed to get it looking pretty clear, but there was still very little improvement in my hearing. I had started to notice a few squelching and popping sounds, though, which felt like something was changing. They decided to syringe some antibiotic cream deep inside my ear in case there was still an infection causing the hearing loss, but that's left me hearing even less for now! I'm going back next week, so I'm really hoping that once they clear the cream and remaining gunk out, there'll be some improvement.

Photo: Lauren Boyd

What were your symptoms and what finally made you get the operation?

Mark: For years, I struggled to surf anywhere without wearing my hood because my ears would fill with water, even when I wore earplugs. The water wouldn't drain properly, which would lead to infections and, eventually, complete hearing loss until things cleared up. It was manageable when it was just my left ear, but my right ear started getting progressively worse too. When both ears were affected, it was horrible and I was practically deaf. I was working on a coaching trip for Renegade in Indonesia at the start of the year, and for about half the trip, I could barely hear anything in either ear. It made coaching really difficult as I was basically having to lip read. That was pretty much the final straw, so as soon as I got home, I went to see the ENT specialist when he was next up in Wick.

Photo: Arthur Picard

What was your last surf before the operation? Did you know that would be the last one for a while?

Mark: My last surf was pretty much the first good long period swell of the season at Thurso-East and I knew it would be my last one for a while. I actually only had a couple hours to surf because I had my wee boy that day, but I snapped my board about an hour into my surf, cutting it short. Fortunately I lucked into the good stage of the tide and had a few decent tubes and one really good one I came out after the spit on that I was pretty stoked with before I snapped my brand new epoxy Lost Driver. Anyway, I felt kinda satisfied having had that last wave before I went to get the wee man (he is 4) and took him surfing on the Moray Firth coast that afternoon - so technically my last surf was a few tandems with him : )

Photo: Arthur Picard

How long did it take before deciding to get the operation and getting it done? Was this on the NHS or Private?

Mark: I've been contemplating it for a good few years, I remember having my first really bad ear infection was when I was competing at the ISA Worlds in Biarritz so that was in 2017. That was the first time I went really deaf in one ear where it felt like it closed up with pressure and the throbbing. So that was when I started seriously considering it and I did get referred to ENT not long after that but never went through with the operation that time. Then more recently, especially when I have been in warmer water it was happening more and more frequently and occasionally at home in colder water too. I had started wearing ear plugs (way too late to prevent surfer's ear) but to keep the water out - but none of them were working. I never went and got my ears checked until 2025 though. I went for microsuction at Specsavers because someone told me that had helped their issues in case any wax build up was just preventing the water draining. The guy was familiar with exostosis (surfer's ear) but I think mine was so bad he was pretty shocked and had to phone a doctor to check what it was and to get permission to even attempt to clean my ears. The microsuction was pretty painful around the growths and he wouldn't continue. So that made me think about the operation a bit more. I spoke to friends who had had the operation, mostly successfully so that was encouraging. It was working on the Renegade coaching trips that was the final straw though as I was noticing my right ear was also getting worse (it used to only be my left that was bad). So after a couple times of being completely deaf for good chunks of trips whilst trying to coach people, enough was enough and I got a referral to ENT. The doctor put me on the list for surgery after seeing him - he said the left ear was about as much growths as he had ever seen and the right ear was probably at the stage it could be operated on too but they would start with the left. I had my surgery booked in about 6 months after seeing the Doctor - all NHS Scotland yes.

Photo: Renzo Steffens

Run us through the actual day and the whole operation process?

Mark: I had an early start and had to go down to Raigmore in Inverness for a morning appointment but they didn't operate on me until that afternoon. That wouldn't have been an issue but I hadn't been allowed to eat after midnight the night before so I was absolutely starving! I ended up just doing a morning's work on my laptop hanging about, filled in some hospital paperwork then finally got the shout. I went to get the anaesthetic and put to sleep. I had a minute or two of morphine bliss before I was out and the next thing I was coming round a few hours later a bit confused speaking some nonsense about a 'to do' list I had to a nurse haha.

'Left sided excision of exostosis of ear canal' was how the operation/procedure appeared on my hospital paperwork but basically they make a pretty big incision around the back of your ear and pull your ear forward and chisel and drill out all of the bony growths (exostosis). The growths are essentially your body's natural mechanism of protecting your ear drum from exposure to the weather - cold wind and water which surfers are particularly exposed to (hence the name surfer's ear). My ear was stapled back on and I spent the night and most of the next morning til about lunchtime in hospital.

Photo: Lauren Boyd

Any advice for surfers concerned about Surfer's Ear?

Mark: Wear plugs kids. I could say I wish I wore earplugs earlier but to be honest it wasn't even something I was aware of when I started surfing - it was probably too late for me anyway by the time earplugs were being marketed to surfers. Regarding the operation I am not sure I can give too much advice. I have heard that in some places they are getting the micro-chisel in through the ear canal rather which is less recovery time. I did mention this at my initial appointment but my surgeon said he was more confident getting all of the growths doing the procedure they did on me and it's obviously not ideal I've had infection and still no hearing in that ear yet but hopefully that resolves itself - as hearing was the main reason to get it done in the first place!

Anything else to add?

Mark: I think my ear is a bit squint now compared to the other one and sticks out more - someone who works at passport control confirmed this for me the other day. Apparently ear and nose positions are something they are trained to look at. My wife says she doesn't notice but I definitely do in the mirror haha. I'm hoping it's just some residual swelling but not holding my breath 😆

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