Improving Physical Appearance and Confidence through Ear Surgery

Think of a traveling circus, an elephant who can fly, and some fun songs. Obviously, this is from the Disney movie Dumbo. This lovable elephant is well known for his sweet personality and comically large ears. The story follows the little elephant as he is teased about his large ears until finally, he learns how to use them to fly, shocking and delighting everyone.

It’s a heartfelt story that is well-loved by many. Unfortunately, most of us with differently shaped ears can’t use them to fly. Since the ears are meant to complement the face when a person has large, protruding ears they often feel uncomfortable about their appearance. Additionally, many children — like Dumbo — are teased about overly large ears, which will negatively affect their self-esteem.

Unless, like Dumbo, you can use your ears to fly, you might be considering surgically correcting your ears in order to achieve a more natural and balanced shape. If this is the case, you may want to learn more about what is involved in corrective ear surgery.

Fast and Fun Facts About Corrective Ear Surgery

• Otoplasty. While generally, we often refer to this procedure as corrective ear surgery or ear reshaping surgery, the technical term is otoplasty, which means ear molding or forming. So, if your doctor refers to otoplasty, it’s merely the technical term for plastic surgery to the ear.
• 1845.What’s so interesting about this number? Well, it’s the year the first ear surgery was recorded by the doctor Dieffenbach. He described the correction of a posttraumatic auricular deformity. And in 1881 another doctor described the first cosmetic otoplasty to reduce the prominence of the ear.
• Cartilage scoring vs. cartilage sparing techniques. These are two types of techniques used in corrective ear surgery. For cartilage scoring techniques, incisions are created in the cartilage to rearrange, add, or remove tissue. This technique has a slightly greater risk of developing subtle contour irregularities. On the other hand, cartilage sparing techniques use stitches and sutures to change the ear’s position and shape. This technique for otoplasty surgery often results in smooth, natural-looking curvatures. In some cases, both techniques are combined during the same procedure depending on what is necessary to correct that specific ear.
• Children. Because ear shape and deformities can have such a profound effect on self-esteem and confidence, children are often candidates for corrective ear surgery. Particularly in the case of congenital defects, otoplasty is usually performed at a young age. Child patients tend to have otoplasty around the age of six when their ears have developed to a size relatively close to an adult-sized ear. But, even children as young as 4 and all the way up to the age of 14 commonly have corrective ear surgery. Children younger than four are normally not candidates since their ears are still growing, but conditions caught early can be manipulated better with younger ear tissue.
• Wide range benefits. The list of benefits of ear surgery is long. Not only is the procedure safe with minimal risk involved, it also corrects a wide variety of ear imperfections and has minimal downtime. Additionally, it can benefit emotionally and psychological by enhancing confidence and self-esteem and preventing teasing for children. Finally, when healed, there is minimal scarring, and the results look natural.

Ear surgery is a fascinating procedure that provides both physical and emotional benefits.  If you are interested in changing the appearance of you or your child’s ears, Dr. Chadwell can provide you with additional information. If you want to schedule a consultation, fill out our online contact form.