Otoplasty or ear plastic surgery is used as a cosmetic procedure to correct the deformities of ear. It can help through reshaping and repositioning of ears and is also one of the safest plastic surgery procedures for children. In fact, deformities in ear should be corrected at the earliest stage. Protruding ears can also be pinned back closer to the head with ear plastic surgery.
The average duration for an ear plastic surgery is 1 to 2 hours as per the corrections required. The surgery can be performed under local anesthesia with sedatives but general anesthesia may be used for very young children.
There are different techniques for an ear plastic surgery and a board certified surgeon tailors the procedures as per the individual patient’s needs. These may include:
- Sculpting or rearranging an existing cartilage in the ear.
- Adjusting the position of ear lobe to the position of the head.
- Rearranging or adding skin to the ear structure.
- Adding cartilage through grafts from another part of the body.
To begin the ear plastic surgery, the surgeon begins with an incision just behind the ear, in the natural fold where the ear joins the head. The cosmetic surgeon may use cartilage cutting or cartilage sparing to correct the size and shape of ear. In cartilage sparing, multiple suspension sutures are placed through the cartilage. The helix and anti helix folds are created and the ears are pinned back. This technique eliminates the possibility of visible scars around the ear but is technically more challenging and is generally used by experienced board certified surgeon.
The protrusion of the lobules is also addressed during the surgery, if required. After reshaping and repositioning the ear cartilages, the excess skin folds behind the ears are removed and surgical sutures are used to close the cuts. A large dressing is used to provide protection to the ear sculpting. The patient may experience a little soreness, aching or throbbing but that can be subsided using painkillers prescribed by the surgeon.
Generally, dissolvable sutures are used for ear plastic surgery and these do need to be removed. The patient must take some rest for at least a week after the surgery and vigorous activities that can hurt the ear should be avoided.
At Pope Plastic Surgery we have state-of–the-art facilities for the comfort of all patients, and we provide the most effective cosmetic surgery treatments. Dr. George Pope is a board certified surgeon with more than 20 years of experience in plastic surgery. He has helped numerous men and women gain more confidence in their appearance.
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