Do you ever find yourself trying to cover up your ears with your hair? Having ears that stick out and protrude can hurt your self-esteem and confidence. But overly prominent ears are not something that you have to live with forever. An Otoplasty procedure can help give you the ears you wish you had. Let’s take a more detailed look at how you can transform your face with Otoplasty.
What is Otoplasty?
Otoplasty is a cosmetic ear surgery used to make your ears smaller and/or less noticeable. This can be achieved by improving the proportion, shape or position of your ear. Otoplasty can treat overly large ears, dissatisfaction with a previous ear surgery or an overly prominent ear.
Most of the time, Otoplasty is performed on children. Unfortunately, a child who has protruding ears can become the center of all the other children’s jokes. This can severely damage their self-esteem and confidence. Though Otoplasty is great for kids, it can also be beneficial to people of any age.
What Causes People to Have Protruding Ears?
Most of the time, genetics causes a person to develop protruding ears. Ear cartilage is usually overdeveloped or underdeveloped. If there is too much cartilage in the pinna, then you may develop an overly prominent ear. Likewise, if the ridge of the cartilage at the top of your ear folds incorrectly, your ear development will be affected. The ear will not fold inward towards the head. Rather, it will stick outwards, resulting in a protruding ear.
Cartilage isn’t always the problem. Sometimes, ear prominence can be the result of an ear angle irregularity. Normally, the outer ear is angled 20 to 35 degrees from the head. If the angle is any bigger than that, then ears may look like they are abnormally protruding from the head.
Overly prominent ears can also be caused by injury, but this is rare.
What is the Otoplasty Procedure Like?
The procedure shouldn’t take longer than 1 1/2 hours, and the patient will be placed under anesthesia. While the patient is under anesthesia, a small incision is made behind the ear. Then, depending on the issue, the surgeon applies different Otoplastic techniques to achieve the desired outcome. After the incisions are closed, the operation is complete.
What is Otoplasty Recovery Like?
After about one week, you or your child should be able to return to school or work and a normal routine. Any activities that could cause harm or injury should be avoided for approximately three months.
You or your child may feel soreness, swelling or other forms of discomfort after the Otoplasty surgery. This is normal. You will be provided with medication to help relieve this discomfort. A headband will be required to help keep the ears in place after surgery.
Sometimes, scarring may occur. But, since the incisions are made behind the ear, the scars are not seen. Directly after surgery, the incisions are minimal. The stitches behind the ears should dissolve in about two to three weeks after surgery.
We hope this guide to Otoplasty helps you to decide if the cosmetic procedure is right for you or your child. If you have any questions about Otoplasty, feel free to contact Dr. Dayan’s office. We would love to help boost your self-esteem by making you feel more comfortable with your face and ears! If you have a question for Dr. Steven Dayan, please email myclinicalteam@drdayan.com with the subject “Question for Dr. Dayan”
