Embarrassed About Your Ears? You May Benefit from Otoplasty
Otoplasty is a procedure that involves modifying the ears. It is a corrective surgery that is done to get the ears to look more proportionate to one’s overall facial structure after a birth defect or injury. It is the only cosmetic surgery that is done regularly to more children than adults.
For children it is mostly a corrective surgery where the ears are set on the right path to grow well and look their best. The procedure can help children with ear defects feel more confident and secure in their new look.
In adults, the procedure is often called an ear tuck. The surgery can permanently fix or correct the placement, position, proportion, and shape of the outer ear. While it is recommend that otoplasty be done when the patient is young, there are a few problems that crop up much later in the development of a child.
Adults might face injuries and accidents that warrant a surgery to make the ears look as they should. The idea is to bring out a more natural shape and feel to the ears.
Why Undergo Otoplasty?
There are a few conditions that can be completely eliminated and others that can be corrected through a simple procedure.
• Large, awkward-looking ears.
• Protruding, pointed, or angled ears that make it difficult to wear glasses, hats, and helmets.
• An injury that might have caused the ears to become disfigured.
• Conditions where there are extra tissue in the ears and additional growth.
What has to be understood is that Otoplasty deals only with the outer ears which in humans is a vestigial organ. There will be no effect on the hearing and other balance related functions of the ears. In fact, the Otoplasty is strictly cosmetic and has nothing to do with hearing.
How the Otoplasty is Performed
Otoplasty procedures are fairly straightforward, the idea is to manipulate the antihelical fold. The fold lies in the inner rim of the ear. The procedure can increase, decrease, or create the fold if it doesn’t exist.
The conchal cartilage, the largest concave part of the outer ear is also similarly worked on. The surgeon can choose to increase or decrease the size of this cartilage. While in most cases the cartilage is reduced or reshaped, enlargements are rare.
The cuts and incisions are normally made behind the ear to mask the scars. If there is no way to avoid a cut in the back, the frontal cuts are made in such a way that the natural folds of the ears cover and hide them.
Unlike most other surgical procedures, the stitches that are used to close the incisions are non removable. The idea is to use sutures that do not further distort the look of the ears. A bad Otoplasty procedure is easily identifiable by the way the surgery leaves the subject with ears looking pinned back.
Schedule Your Otoplasty Consultation Today!
An otoplasty can greatly improve the look of your ears. The change in appearance can enhance your overall look and as a result increase your level of confidence. Contact our office to schedule your Otoplasty consultation at the Advanced Cosmetic Surgery Center of Kentucky.