Ear Surgery
Otoplasty
Ear Surgery (Otoplasty) is designed to improve the contours and proportions of the ears. Most commonly, these procedures are used to make protruding or ‘stick out’ ears less prominent in appearance. Ideally, prominent ears are best corrected after the ears have matured in size with natural whole-body growth. This typically occurs by the ages of five to seven years old. Nevertheless, the procedure can be performed at any age in adults if the opportunity to do so was not made available during childhood.
An Otoplasty, or Cosmetic Ear Surgery, is a surgical procedure designed to change the shape, position, and/or the size of the ears. The ultimate goal is to reshape the ears so that they are in harmony with the other facial features of that individual patient. What is thought to be a perfectly shaped ear on one person may not fit in well at all with the overall facial features of a completely different person. In essence, the ears must be sculpted in order to match the other facial features of the specific patient.
Types of Ear Surgery
Like any other form of cosmetic surgery, the actual procedure itself must be specifically tailored to each and every individual patient. The unique anatomy of that individual must always be taken into account when designing the actual procedure. And as is always the case, the expectations for correction must always be very clearly agreed upon by both the patient and Dr. Lober prior to proceeding with the surgery.
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In other cases, removal of a small amount of cartilage and suturing of the cartilage folds may be necessary to achieve an improved appearance to the ears. In these procedures, the incisions will be completely hidden behind the ear, making them completely unnoticeable to other people.
Best Candidates
In young children, the decision to proceed with Otoplasty is going to be made primarily by the child’s parents themselves. In fact, it is not uncommon for one of the parents to have had this feature present in either themselves or in other members of their own family. Often, the parents will make this decision based upon a desire to avoid future teasing of the child about the prominence of their ears by other children.
Adults choosing to proceed with Otoplasty often do so because they feel that their ears are out of proportion to the rest of their head and face. They may not have had the opportunity to have had the surgery performed as a young child. And after years of feeling self-conscious about their appearance, they have decided that they simply want to improve the appearance of their ears.
Surgery & Recovery
Dr. Lober prefers to perform Otoplasties in young children within the hospital setting, on an outpatient basis. These procedures will all be done under General Anesthesia for the safety and comfort of the child. In adults, Otoplasties can be performed in the privacy of our own Surgical Center. The procedure is typically performed under IV Sedation, although General Anesthesia is always an option if desired by the patient.
Ear Surgeries usually only take from one to one and a half hours to perform. Incisions will be designed to be well hidden, and are most commonly placed on the backs of the ears. The external stitches used are typically all absorbable.
Upon completion of the procedure, non-adherent dressings will be placed on both ears, and a compressive wrap will be placed around the head and ears. This will be removed in three to five days. Thereafter, the patient will be asked to wear a looser headband at night for at least the first two weeks to help remodel the ears.
Patients are advised to avoid strenuous activities (including bending over and heavy lifting) for the postoperative first week. Physical downtime (light activity, driving, etc.) from the surgery can be as little as 3 to 5 days. Social downtime (outings, social events, meetings, etc.) will generally be from 7 to 10 days.