hi and thanks for the query yes your mother is having infection in her middle ear and the infected material is oozing out through a hole in her ear drum. if the problem has been there for less than 6 weeks then we can wait for the drum to heal on its own with medicines. usually no significant healing of the drum occurs after 6 weeks but we do wait for upto 6 months for maximum healing to occur. after which a decision to operate is taken if it is indicated. a hole in the ear drum is not always an indication for surgery. surgery is done if there is significant hearing loss, if there is recurrent ear discharge, if the patient engages in water related activities or if there is past history of complications related to the ear infection. small insignificant holes that do not discharge and cause no hearing loss can be left alone provided the patient takes some precautions. i would suggest 1. get proper treatment for the persisting infection which should include an appropriate oral antibiotic, antibiotic ear drops, decongestant nose drops and an anti inflammatory if pain is present 2. keep ears dry. avoid head bath for 5 days after which keep a large ball of cotton smeared with ample amount of vaseline in the affected ear. cotton ball should be discarded immediately after bath 3. do not try to clean or probe your ears 4. plenty of fluids. 3-4 litres per day 5. control of sugars if she is diabetic 6. one lemon and 8 almonds per day. 7. do not keep cotton in the ear. it only aggravates infection. 8. avoid fan and a/c. thank u. get well soon dr kishori