CURRENT
Facial Plastic Surgery
CURRENT
Facial Plastic Surgery
Otoplasty – Ear Reconstruction
What is Otoplasty/Ear Reconstruction?
Otoplasty addresses structural abnormalities of the ear. Most often, this refers to protruding or abnormal-appearing ears. A combination of cartilage sculpting and suture placement is used to create a more natural and symmetric appearance. Our office also frequently performs ear lobe reduction and surgery for torn or stretched ear lobes.
Am I a candidate for an Otoplasty/Ear Reconstruction?
Patients who wish to get an otoplasty or ear reconstruction usually complain of torn, stretched, protruding, or “abnormal-looking” ears/earlobes. There is no determining age for otoplasty surgery, as we see patients from all age ranges.
Procedure
Patients are expected to arrive on-time for their scheduled procedure. On the morning of the appointment, it is advised to abstain from consuming caffeinated beverages and ensure that breakfast is eaten. Having food in the stomach enhances comfort and helps prevent nausea. Prior to arrival, please cleanse the face thoroughly, ensuring no makeup or skincare products remain on the skin. Choose a top that is easy to remove, as it will need to fit over the head-dressing applied post-surgery. Avoid wearing any jewelry, including earrings, necklaces, bracelets, watches, etc., on the day of the procedure. Additionally, refrain from wearing contact lenses on the day of surgery.
Two weeks before surgery, it is advised to avoid drinking and/or smoking nicotine. One week before surgery, stop all aspirin and all aspirin-like products (ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin, Aleve, etc.). If you would like to use arnica supplements to reduce bruising, these may be started one week before surgery and continued for one week after.
On the day of your procedure, please come with someone who can drive you to and from your appointment. If your driver wishes to leave a cellular telephone number, we can text him or her with updates and a pick-up time.
Your Recovery
After otoplasty surgery, you will be dressed with a soft wrap to keep swelling and bruising down. It is important that you keep this wrap on at all times the first week after your surgery. Starting the second week, you may take it off during the day and leave it on only when you are sleeping. Swelling will peak at around 24-48 hours after your procedure. You may also wake up in the mornings with more swelling. This, however, will go down throughout the day.
If you experience extreme pain or swelling, nausea, vomiting, or are uncertain about something, please call our office at 834-371-1610
Results
FAQ
What is Otoplasty or “ear pinning”?
Otoplasty is surgery to address protruding or misshaped ears. “Ear pinning is a misnomer,” says Dr. Novis, “because the surgery does not pin down the ears at all. And in fact, that would give a very unnatural result. Otoplasty is a complex surgical procedure to address irregular bends and malformation in the ear cartilage and allow the ears to lie in a more natural position.” This procedure is very technical, as bringing the ear too close to the head will result in a “telephone ear” which can be as unnatural and distracting as the protruding ears themselves. Our meticulous work with cartilage and suturing leads to a natural-looking ear.
Is Otoplasty surgery painful?
Otoplasty surgery can be performed comfortably with the appropriate technique. Dr. Novis uses a specialized local anesthetic technique utilizing nerve blocks and a personally perfected mixture of numbing agents to allow for otoplasty to be performed comfortably without general anesthesia.
What is incisionless otoplasty?
Incisionless otoplasty is a specialized technique utilizing carefully placed sutures underneath the skin behind the ear. This technique is for patients whose protruding ears are due to absence of the antihelical fold, or main fold, in the center of the ear. This technique is truly done with no incisions, which greatly speeds healing and recovery.