Cosmetic surgery can improve people's appearance in numerous ways. In addition to such well-known procedures as facelifts and tummy tucks, individuals can also schedule surgery to alter the shape, size, or position of their ears. These procedures fall under a category of cosmetic surgery known as otoplasty.
If you don't like what you see when you examine your ears in a mirror, you may wonder exactly how otoplasty can aid in the creation of a new and improved look. Check out these four ways that otoplasty can give you a whole new reason to show off your ears.
1. Otoplasty Can Make Your Ears Look Larger
Some people have abnormally small or malformed ears from birth, a condition known as microtia. Risk factors include genetics as well as prenatal drug use, diabetes, and nutritional deficiencies. The ears may appear both small and deformed.
Both children and adults with microtia can have surgery to increase their ear size and normalize their ear shape. Your surgeon can sculpt a small piece of rib cartilage into a normal ear shape while the cartilage remains implanted in your chest. The surgeon can then graft this reshaped cartilage to your natural ear. The surgeon can also create the graft from synthetic material.
2. Otoplasty Can Make Your Ears Look Smaller
While some people have overly small ears, others face the opposite problem. The average adult ear ranges from six to six-and-a-half centimeters in length, with the width measuring approximately one-half of the length. However, sufferers of a congenital defect called macrotia have unusually large, sometimes malformed ears.
Fortunately, ear reduction otoplasty allows you to rid yourself of this embarrassing condition and the self-consciousness that often results from it. In this procedure, the surgeon simply removes unwanted extra skin and cartilage from the ears until they conform to the desired size and shape.
3. Otoplasty Can Pull Your Ears in Closer to Your Head
Even if you have normal-sized ears, those ears may make themselves more obvious than you would prefer. Some people naturally have ears that jut outward instead of lying mostly parallel to the sides of the head. This abnormality may affect both ears or just one ear.
A type of otoplasty known as ear pinning can resolve this issue. The procedure, which typically takes a couple of hours, may require only a local anesthetic and sedative for adults. Children aged five or older may also have the procedure, but they usually require general anesthesia.
Despite the name, ear pinning does not involve the use of pins. Instead, the surgeon simply sutures the ear cartilage to the side of the head to hold it in a more cosmetically pleasing position. If this step won't get the job done, you might also need to have a small amount of skin or cartilage removed from the ear.
4. Otoplasty Can Repair a Damaged or Deformed Earlobe
Human earlobes commonly play host to piercings, heavy earrings, and other accessories. Over time, these accessories can stretch out the earlobe tissue, causing the earlobes to sag, droop, or appear abnormally long. Piercings may expand in size until the earlobe splits or tears. A traumatic injury can also damage an earlobe.
If your earlobes have lost their attractiveness due to these kinds of structural changes, otoplasty can fix their shape, size, and appearance. Both full and partial earlobe tears respond to simple procedures that suture the tissue back into a normal-looking shape. Such procedures may take mere minutes under local anesthesia.
Ronald C. Barry, MD, FACS, offers otoplasty in addition to a wide range of other cosmetic surgery services.
Contact our office to schedule a consultation and learn more about any of the procedures listed above.
