Otoplasty

Prominent ears can do tremendous damage to one’s self-esteem. Teasing and name-calling during childhood can be devastating. Ear surgery, or otoplasty, is usually done to set prominent ears back closer to the head or to reduce the size of large ears. There can be one or more reasons why the ear is prominent. Often there is a weak or missing fold of cartilage in the ear (anti-helical fold). This causes the outer part of the ear to stick out, rather than back. In addition, the bowl part of the ear may be large or stick out. During surgery, we create a nice fold in the ear and/or rotate the bowl towards the head. The ears can be reshaped, reduced or made more symmetrical. The incision is hidden along the crease behind the ear. Both children and adults can benefit from otoplasty. In children, the earliest the operation is done at 4-5 years old or just before kindergarten. We choose this time because the ears are nearly fully grown and that is the point in life when children become aware of the deformity (and when ridicule starts). Adults that seek otoplasty often report that they didn’t have the opportunity to have the surgery as a child or didn’t know that prominent ears could be fixed. In adults, the procedure is often done in the office under local anesthesia. Results can be dramatic and are permanent.