Enhancing your appearance with ear surgery 

If protruding or disfigured ears bother you or your child, you may consider plastic surgery. Ear surgery — also known as otoplasty — can improve the shape, position or proportion of the ear. It can correct a defect in the ear structure that is present at birth that becomes apparent with development or it can treat misshapen ears caused by injury. Ear surgery creates a natural shape, while bringing balance and proportion to the ears and face. Correction of even minor deformities can have profound benefits to appearance and self-esteem.

Specifically ear surgery can treat:

Overly large ears — a rare condition called macrotia. Protruding ears occurring on one or both sides in varying degrees — not associated with hearing loss.

Adult dissatisfaction with previous ear surgery.

Is it right for me?

Ear surgery is a highly individualized procedure and you should do it for yourself, not to fulfill someone else’s desires or to try to fit any sort of ideal image.

Children who are good candidates for ear surgery are:

Healthy, without a life-threatening illness or untreated chronic ear infections. Generally 5 years old, or when a child’s ear cartilage is stable enough for correction.

Teenagers and adults who are good candidates for ear surgery are:

Healthy individuals who do not have a life-threatening illness or medical conditions that can impair healing. Non-smokers. Individuals with a positive outlook and specific goals in mind for ear surgery.

Prior to surgery, you may be asked to:

Get lab testing or a medical evaluation. Take certain medications or adjust your current medications. Stop smoking well in advance of surgery. Avoid taking aspirin and certain anti-inflammatory drugs and herbal supplements as they can increase bleeding

What happens during ear surgery?

Step 1 – Anesthesia

Medications are administered for your comfort during the surgical procedure. The choices include local, intravenous sedation or general anesthesia. Your doctor will recommend the best choice for you.

Step 2 – The incision

Correction of protruding ears uses surgical techniques to create or increase the antihelical fold (just inside the rim of the ear) and to reduce enlarged conchal cartilage (the largest and deepest concavity of the external ear). Incisions for otoplasty are generally made on the back surface of the ear. When incisions are necessary on the front of the ear, they are made within its folds to hide them. Internal, non-removable sutures are used to create and secure the newly shaped cartilage in place.

Step 3 – Closing the incisions

External stitches close the incision. Techniques are individualized, taking care not to distort other structures and to avoid an unnatural “pinned back” appearance.

Step 4 – See the results

Ear surgery offers near immediate results in cases of protruding ears, visible once the dressings that support the new shape of the ear during initial phases of healing are removed. With the ear permanently positioned closer to the head, surgical scars are either hidden behind the ear or well-hidden in the natural creases of the ear.

 Ear surgery recovery

Discomfort immediately following ear surgery is normal and can be controlled with pain medication. There may be an itchy feeling under bandages. It is essential that bandages remain intact and are not removed, for any reason. Failure to do so may result in loss of some of the correction and may require a secondary surgery.

The practice of medicine and surgery is not an exact science. Although good results are expected, there is no guarantee. In some situations, it may not be possible to achieve optimal results with a single surgical procedure and another surgery may be necessary.

 Results and outlook

Ear surgery offers almost immediate results in cases of protruding ears, visible when the dressings that support the new shape of the ear during initial phases of healing are removed. With the ear permanently positioned closer to the head, surgical scars are either hidden behind the ear or well hidden within the natural creases of the ear. The results of more extensive ear surgery and reconstruction may appear in stages over time.