Bid Adieu to Protruding Ears with Otoplasty

There are plenty of surgeries and other technologies for correction of eyes, nose, lips etc. but there is one for ear too and that is Otoplasty.

What is Otoplasty?

Otoplasty is reshaping of the outer ear surgically. Many people have complained of having protruding ears, this generally runs in the family and they occur for no particular reason as such. This kind of condition does not affect a person’s hearing in any way. People do however face a sense of embarrassment and psychological stress at times due to this. The outer ear is called the pinna and it does not have any major function.

Also Read – Chin Enhancement Without Surgery – What You Should Know About It? Here

The Otoplasty condition is mostly tackled in childhood itself as right from this stage it affects a person. Children are most often in circumstance wherein they are teased by their friends as well as classmates for having deformed ears and this affects the child deeply thereby affecting his confidence and emotions. Even adults for that matter are not left out from such distressing situations.

Reasons for the deformity of ear

Cartilage

Overdevelopment: In this case the ear has an over growth or several cartilages then the ear will be protruding

Underdevelopment: In this case, mostly the ridge of the cartilage which is at the top of the ear does not fold well due to improper development. The outer edge particularly does not fold towards the head and mostly sticks outside making it look prominent.

Angle: Here the outer ear sticks out from the side of the head generally at an angle which would be around 20 to 35 degrees. In case the angle is more than 35 degree then it is considered to be prominent or sticking out.

Injury: Sometimes an injury can also result in the ear to protrude out.

Hereditary: As per studies about 20 to 30 percent of the newborns have deformities in their external ears since birth. It is generally congenital or acquired in the birth canal. Most of the deformities are self-correcting. In case of child ear deformities, it should be corrected a week post birth, otherwise a non-surgical correction or an otoplasty will be required.

Otoplasty

Otoplasty can be done on kids as young as 2 years to adults. In young kids, generally the procedure will be done under general anesthesia. In older children as well as adults, the surgery is performed under local anesthesia. The procedure takes approximately 45 minutes.

Pre-otoplasty precautions:

The factors that are required to be discussed with your surgeon before otoplasty are

Skin type
Age
Individual healing rates
Ethnic background

The surgeon will examine your medical history and also assess your mental and emotional approach towards the surgery. The surgeon will examine the structure of the ears and assess if the correction is possible. Surgery will be recommended if both ears will achieve the most natural as well as symmetrical appearance.

Otoplasty procedure:

First and foremost, an incision would be done behind the ear on the crease where there is a natural fold exactly where the ear is joined to the head.
Next the surgeon will remove the required amount of cartilage and skin that would be required to get the right effect.
Sometimes the surgeon would even just trim the cartilage and pin it back as per the required shape and then with the use of permanent sutures secure the cartilage.
Once everything is done, the surgeon will apply the sutures in order to anchor the ear until it heals and the ear is held in a proper position.

Post-surgery:

The dressing will be there for a few days due to which people might face discomfort.
Sleep patterns could be disturbed until the healing of the ear happens completely.
Post-surgery risks are not any except that you will be left with a white scar behind the ears. But since it is behind the ears, it does not matter really.

Also Read – Know What, Why and How About Rhinoplasty Here