Prominent ear surgery

What Is Prominent Ear Correction Surgery ?

Prominent ears can be a cause of social embarrassment and make individuals feel anxious and self-conscious. Prominent ears can affect one or both ears, depending on the individual. However, through prominent ear correction surgery , the ears can be set back by recreating the missing fold in the ear cartilage using specially placed stitches, or by cutting and molding the cartilage. The surgery to pin the ears back is also known as pinnaplasty or otoplasty. Although adults can undergo prominent ear correction surgery , it’s more commonly carried out in children. However, prominent ear correction isn’t suitable for children younger than 5 years old. This is because their ears are still developing and growing. At this young age, the ear cartilage is too soft to hold stitches.

What To Expect From Prominent Ear Correction Surgery?

Prominent ear correction surgery can take place under local anesthesia, often with sedation, or under general anesthetic. The scar from the surgery is hidden behind the ear, to keep it discreet. You can usually go home the same day as surgery and will be asked to wear a headband continuously for the first week, to protect your ears whilst they heal. After this, the headband should be worn at night for 6 weeks.

What Happens During Prominent Ear Correction Surgery ?

Prominent ear correction surgery can be conducted under local anesthetic and involves making a cut behind the ear in order to expose the ear cartilage. The doctor will then remove small pieces of cartilage if it’s necessary and put stitches at the back of the ear to position or reshape the ear closer to the head. Prominent ear correction surgery usually takes between 1 and 2 hours.

Are There Any Potential Risks From Prominent Ear Correction ?

All surgery involves potential risks and this includes prominent ear correction surgery. After the procedure, all patients will have a scar behind the ear, which starts off quite prominent, but softens and fades with time. It is normal to have some bruising; this usually settles after a week or two.

More serious, but less frequent, risks from prominent ear correction surgery, include:

• A blood clot under the skin of the ear that needs surgical drainage
• Significant asymmetry of the ears
• The ears starting to protrude again
• Inflammation of the ear cartilage
• Infection or abscess formation
• Allergic reaction to the anesthetic

What To Expect After Prominent Ear Correction ?

After prominent ear correction surgery , you can normally be discharged home on the same day. Your ears will be dressed with gauze and cotton wool pads. An elasticated headband is worn over the dressings to keep them in place and hold the ears in position. This needs to be worn constantly for the first week after surgery, meaning that you won’t be able to wash your hair during this time. After one week, the dressings are removed and the scars can be dressed with a simple antibiotic . The stitches are dissolvable, so do not need removing. We recommend that you continue to wear the elasticated headband at night for 6 weeks, to prevent the ears from folding back on themselves whilst you sleep. Children can normally return to school after 1 week but should wear the headband for protection for 6 weeks.