I have a gnarly story about my ear. Had exostosis in my left ear, but also had cholesteatoma in my inner ear. I couldn't hear and was getting infections all the time. They had to drill through canal for the exostosis, and go behind the ear for the cholesteatoma. 5.5 hrs surgery! They had to replace my inner ear bones (auditory ossicle) with a prosthesis. Felt like I got ran over by a semi when I came to afterwards. Thank goodness my hearing is much better, no more infections, and no complications either. My advice, go to a good ENT and then go to another one to get a second opinion before going under the knife or drill or chisel. And, yes, if you have up to 80-90% blockage, you can prevent surfer's ear from getting worse by wearing plugs (and a hood).