Ear Pnning - Otoplasty Surgery

For the child or adult who suffers from prominent ears, the choices that this condition provokes may be as simple as a restrictive hairstyle (one that hides the ears) or as complex as lifestyle decisions (for example avoiding sporting activities like swimming because the ears protrude through wet hair).

Otoplasty surgery, or ear pinning, is a procedure that reshapes or corrects prominent ears so that they lie flatter against the head. It is a relatively simple operation and can have dramatic personal results for the patient.

For a child at a vulnerable developmental stage, prominent ears can be the focus of negative attention on the playground and can subsequently cause self-consciousness in later life. Interestingly, experience has shown that psychological reassurance seldom makes children with this problem feel any better. For an adult, ear pinning surgery is just as effective and even more straightforward since it is commonly performed under local anaesthetic.

What causes prominent ears?

Ears are usually prominent due to one or both of the following problems:

• Lack of folds (antihelix). In some children the ear cartilage does not develop with the usual folds which can cause the ears to protrude at an angle from the head. These are sometimes known as "bat ears" because they resemble the ears of a bat.

• A deep ear hollow (concha). These ears are unduly prominent and protrude from the head, even though the cartilage of the ears appears to be well folded and creased. This is caused when the hollow part of the ear is very deep and effectively 'lifts' the ear off the side of the head.

How are prominent ears corrected?

When surgeons first addressed the issue of prominent ears back in the 1950's they literally stitched or pinned them back. Early attempts to correct the ears involved removing a segment of skin behind the ears or using sutures to pull the ears back into a different position. Unfortunately as the skin stretched or stitches broke, the ears returned to their pre-op state.

Methods of prominent ear correction have developed and evolved considerably over the past 50 years. Today otoplasty uses an incision in the back of the ear cartilage to reduce the size of the ear and reshape the cartilage.

Prominent ear corrections is best suited to:

Anyone who is concerned about the prominence of their ears and feels inhibited physically or socially a result. In the case of children, traditionally the youngest age at which the operation is performed is six or seven years. This is because the ears have reached about 90% of their adult size at age seven making even minor prominence appear more obvious than it actually is.

Another reason for delaying otoplasty until school age is that until this age the ear cartilage is very soft. This means that the ear is less able to hold the new shape following surgery.