Ear Pinning - Otoplasty or Pinnaplasty

Around 1,200 adults and children have their ears altered with plastic surgery each year. Known officially as otoplasty or pinnaplasty, the operation can prove a huge boost for the people who suffer from sticking-out ears.

What is it?

Otoplasty is any surgery that deals with the ears.

It's used to repair ears that have been damaged in accidents or deformed from birth. It can alter the size and shape of the lobes or other parts of the ear for cosmetic reasons-or in the case of ear pinning, the most common operation, bring sticking out ears closer to the head.

What can it do for you?

Otoplasty can dramatically boost your confidence. People who have a thing about their ears find it overrides their entire thinking. But with surgery they can make their ears fit their perfect image.

The 'perfect' ear tends to stick out exactly 17mm from the side of the head and that's what surgeons aim for when pinning ears back.

The procedure

Ears stick out because they lack something called the antihelical crease, which normally pulls the ear flatter to the head.

During surgery we cut the skin behind the ear to expose the cartilage, then gently scratch it. This scores a line, which then creates this crease.

To see what this means, push a non-sticking-out ear forward with your fingers. You'll notice that the crease just by the hard bit in the middle of the ear disappears and the ears 'stick out'. The crease is your antihelical and that's what's created during ear surgery.

Cost

Ear pinning is free on the NHS for children in most parts of the UK. If you choose to have the operation carried out privately, expect to pay £2,000-£2,500.

Recovery time

You'll spend two to three days with throbbing ears and will probably need painkillers to tackle the discomfort. Your ears will also be bandaged tightly during this time - the bandaging should remain in place for five to seven days.

After this, you'll also need to wear a night support bandage for up to four weeks to stop the ears kinking on the pillow while you sleep.

Ideally, adults should book a week off work. Most surgeons recommend that children should have at least this amount of time off school to avoid the possibility of any damage being caused by playground incidents.

What can go wrong?

As ear surgery is usually performed under general anaesthetic, particularly for children, it carries the normal concerns related to such procedures.

Other than that, it's very uncommon for serious side effects to occur during this operation. The biggest risk is that the operation doesn't take and the ear 'pings' back out. This happens in around eight per cent of cases and the operation then needs to be repeated.

The other problem that can occur is people having the wrong operation in the first place. If it's the size of your ears that upsets you, altering the angle at which they protrude won't help.

Make sure you know exactly what it is about your ear that upsets you and be sure to tell your surgeon so that they can find the best solution to your problem.

How long does it last?

Assuming you aren't one of the eight per cent mentioned above, this is a one-off deal. Once the operation is done, the ears are fixed for life.

This article hasn't been commented yet.

Knife Styles

Write a comment

Categories

Articles

Sponsors