If you feel that your ears are a bit too conspicuous, maybe you could do with help from plastic surgery; to be more specific, from otoplasty or ear surgery. One of the best things about otoplasty is that it is safer when compared to many other plastic surgery methods.

Works for Both Children and Adults

Children with big or protruding ears are often victims of teasing at school. If your child experiences the same problem; correcting the problem through otoplasty may be a wise decision so that he/she doesn’t have to endure psychological trauma. Otoplasty operations are mostly performed on children aged between 4 and 14 years. However, it is not uncommon for adults to undergo the procedure.

Where It Helps

If an easily noticeable ear deformity has weakened your self-esteem, otoplasty could be the way to strengthen it again.

Ear surgery can correct or improve:

•    Large ears
•    Drooping ears
•    Protruding ears
•    Torn earlobes
•    An outer ear that’s not fully developed (microtia)
•    Lop-ear
•    Cupped ear
•    Shell ear

A Deeper Look into Otoplasty

A common way of doing otoplasty is to make a little incision at the rear side of the ear, in the fold where it joins the head. In so doing, the ear cartilage is exposed. Following the making of the incision, cartilage or skin may be removed, or the cartilage would be reduced and reshaped. So, if the ears extend out considerably from the head, they can be pinned back and if they are big, they can be brought down to the right size. Using permanent stitches, the cartilage is fixed in its new place. The surgery usually causes faint scarring but this would lighten with time.

Otoplasty is as mentioned at the outset, a safe procedure. However complications such as a blood clot, overcorrection, hematoma, infection, and altered hearing may occur in rare cases.