Face

ear surgery

Ear malformations present with multiple variations and often include protruding ears, lop ear (tip bends down and forward), cupped or shell ear to list a few. The malformation usually present at a young age and surgery can be offered as early as age 5 when the ear cartilage is stable enough to withstand the surgery. Ear surgery, a.k.a. otoplasty — can improve the shape, position or proportion of the ear and bring the face into more balance.

Procedural: Incisions for otoplasty are generally made on the back surface of the ear. 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). 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.

Results: Ear surgery offers near immediate results in cases of protruding ears, appreciated once the dressings that support the new shape of the ear during initial phases of healing are removed. Young patients are required to refrain from normal activity for at least 7 days in order to ensure and protect the healing. There is minimal swelling, and the sutures are often well disguised.