What is otoplasty or protruding ears surgery ?
Otoplasty is a cosmetic surgery that aims to correct a congenital ear deformity (born with). The most known problem is big distancing of ears from the head. However, some patients undergo otoplasty to correct the shape and the size of ears.
Protruding ears can cause a big embarrassment and discomfort for people. Especially children who can suffer from bullying at school which leads to lower their self-confidence and changes in their behaviour. That is why this procedure is recommended to be done at a very young age.
Otoplasty surgery procedure
In order to undergo an otoplasty, the patient will receive general anesthesia especially for younger people. However, for adults local anesthesia can be used along with a sedation.
The procedure is simple, it involves the cartilage tissues behind the ear. After making a small incision in the back of the ear, the surgeon will remove excess cartilage (and skin if necessary). Then, he will fold it back and hold the new shape of cartilage with permanent stitches. At the end the surgeon will close the incision with removable small stitches.
After the otoplasty surgery
The patient have to wear bandage over his ears for a few days after otoplasty, during which he should not wash his hair. Also he has to avoid sleeping in a position that put pressure on ears or fold them forward.
Avoid touching and scratching ears, and wear clothing with wide collar or button-down shirts so it doesn’t pull down the head.
The patient can return back to his daily activities after two weeks from the surgery. But, he should avoid activities that may cause trauma to the ears such as physical contact sports and swimming.
After few days the doctor will remove the bandage, and give you a loose head band to protect the ears from folding during sleep. The ears will be a bit swollen and bruising, this is normal and will resolve after few weeks.
After removing head bandage you can immediately notice the change in the appearance of your ears. this result is permanent.
Are you a good candidate for otoplasty ?
you can consider undergoing an otoplasty procedure if you :
- Have a good health status.
- Are 5 years old or more.
- Have a very protruding ears.
- Have ears shape that causes you embarrassment, discomfort and lowers your self-confidence.
Does the surgery have any complications ?
The otoplasty procedure is very simple and safe, but yet some complications can rarely occur such as:
- Infection : if the antibiotics prescribed by the doctor are not respected.
- Reopening of the sutures : if the head band is not used properly.
- Asymmetry : during the healing process you can notice asymmetry in ears positioning. A perfect symmetry can never be reached in this procedure but the result will be very satisfying.
