Otoplasty Gallery

A young man in his pre -teens who is bothered by prominent ears. He is teased at school. His parents wanted to insure that his ears did not look unnatural or “pulled or pinned back” after surgery. Examination of his ear before surgery showed poor definition of the antihelical fold and hypertrophy (excess projection) of the conchal bowl. He is shown before and again, 6 months after bilateral otoplasty. During his surgery I formed a new antihelical fold with the Dingman oto-abrader ( Dr. Reed DIngman was one of my professors at the University of Michigan during my Plastic Surgery Residency and was a world expert on Otoplasty) and Mustarde sutures. In a case such as this where the conchal bowl is severely hypertrophic ( more than 2.5 cm) then it cannot be corrected well with sutures alone, and it is better to excise a crescent of cartilage to help pull the ear back. This was done in his case through an anterior incision just inside the rim.
He and his family are pleased that he has a normal appearance after surgery. The ears are in the proper position and no “pinned back”. And the projection in the mid ear has been reduced from 39 mm on his right to 19 mm and from 36 mm on his left to 18 mm.

A man in his late 50’s who has always been bothered by prominent ears. He has worn his hair long to hide them. He is shown before and again, 6 weeks after bilateral otoplasty. He is thrilled with looking normal, and is now comfortable wearing his hair short.

A young women in her mid-teens who is has been teased at school because of her prominent ears. She is shown before and again, a year after surgery. She loves her new ears. She always hid them before with her hair, but reports that she only wears her hair up now.

A woman in her mid 20’s with a drooping and stretched earlobe piercing. She has a second piercing which she wanted to keep. She is shown 3 months after correction with an earlobe lift and again, just after re-piercing in the office.

woman in her early 40’s with “split” earlobe. She is shown just before repair under local anesthesia in the office and again, 3 months after repair when she returned for re-piercing

An 18 yo student who has a torn right earlobe, probably from sleeping with her earrings in place. This was repaired for her under local anesthesia in the office. She is shown before and again, 4 months after surgery, and just before repiercing her earlobe in the office.

A man in his early 60’s with a large BCCA of his right ear. He is shown at his initial visit, after Mohs surgery, immediately after repair and again, 6 months after surgery.
A “reduction otoplasty” was selected, reducing the size of the ear but leaving a relatively normal shape. It is interesting that even though the ear is smaller than the other side, we do not generally evaluate and compare both ears at the same time, so he appears “normal” and does not look deformed.