Ear Plastic Surgery

Depending on the age of the patient, the severity of the procedure and the costs the patient are willing to incur the ear surgery procedure - length, anesthesia, in or out patient considerations will be different.

While the vast majority of plastic surgery is reserved for adults (although even that is changing) the one surgery that is preformed more often on young people than old people is otoplasty ear surgery.

Growing up with protruding and odd shaped ears can be an enormous burden for a young person. There is no denying that children can be extremely cruel, and a child with abnormal ears can become an easy target for bullying.

Otoplasty ear surgery has helped million of young people all over America solve this problem and has allowed them to live a life relatively free of ridicule and has thus given them the confidence to live their life to the fullest and concentrate on the things that really matter; like being young.

If you are concerned at all about sending your child to have an elective surgery you should know that most plastic surgeons have years of experience and they know the special situation of dealing with a patient that is younger, and may have more questions about the procedure than an adult.

Ear Surgery aka Otoplasty - The Procedure

Let's look at some of the variables.

Length

Ear surgery usually only takes 2-4 hours to complete, but if there are complication that time can increase. The real variables you need to consider when determining the length of the procedure is the pre-op preparation and the post-op recovery.

Usually the patient will recover in a few weeks, with the only major inconvenience is the nightly sleeping in a chair, as to not damage the area that was operated on. If the surgery has been done on a small child, the recovery time may be a little longer as children tend to be more delicate than adults and more susceptible to irritability.

Anesthesia

Again, the type of anesthesia used depends on many variables. If the patient is a young child then a general anesthetic is usually recommended. Children can become quite fearful if you tell them that they will be having surgery and this fear multiplies if they are conscious during the procedure.

A generally anesthesia usually requires that the child spend the night in the hospital for monitoring, but this is usually only a minor inconvenience.

For adults the standard anesthesia is usually a local one, injected into the side of the head. The patient is also given a sedative so, even though they are conscious for the procedure they will not feel like panicking or making any sudden movements that could jeopardize the treatment.

In and Out Patient

No, this is not a burger chain in California. In and out patient is a decision that each plastic surgery candidate will have to make before they go ahead with the procedure. The in patient scenario is more costly as it requires the renting of a hospital bed, but there s also added care by professionals and the piece of mind that if there is a problem there will people there to take care of it.

Out patient is by far the most popular for this treatment as it is cheaper and it allows the patient to get to the comfort of their home earlier. If the rules of recovery are followed there should be no problems with this choice.

Otoplasty Risks

The risks of otoplasty are minimal, but include:

• Over correction of the ears, which places them too close to the head.
• Development of a keloid - a thick scar that grows larger than the original scar. There is a higher risk of this among African-Americans.
• Development of a hematoma (localized swelling due to an accumulation of blood) in the cartilage of the ear. The risk of hematoma is considered small.
• Infection in the cartilage of the ear.
• Loosening of the sutures, which can cause the ear to return to its original position.

Also, the procedure should never be performed on anyone younger than five years of age, but after that age, everything is fine.

Ear surgery is also fairly popular because it has a fairly low recovery time that can usually be managed even after you have returned back to work. The only real hassle involved is that you are required to sleep sitting up for several weeks.

This may result in some lost sleep, but after a few nights, you become so tired anyway that it scarcely becomes an issue.

Once you have elected to have the surgery you will be amazed at the effect it will have on your self-esteem and your out look on the world. You will no longer look at photos of yourself and automatically be drawn to how your ears look in the picture instead of actually enjoying the picture for what it is.

You also will no longer walk down the street and constantly look at other people's ears and wish that you had been as lucky as them to be born with such nice ears. In other words, your life will change dramatically as you have more energy to devote to making the other parts of your body look just as good as your ears.

And best of all, all of the those jokes that you suffered through while growing up will no longer seem so bad, as you will join the ranks of people with nice, neat, streamlined ears.

Ear Pinning Surgery Info

Ear pinning surgery has become fairly routine these days in America. In the past if you were a child or an adult who was self conscious about your ears the only thing you could do was suffer in silence.

This is not the case any more as otoplasty, other wise known as ear pinning surgery is one of the most common plastic surgery procedures in the united states, and is now the number one elective cosmetic surgery for children.

If you are interested in having this procedure done, or having it done on your child there is plenty of ear pinning surgery info available here and on other sites on the Internet. However, your best bet is to find an experienced plastic surgeon in your area and give them a call and see what your options are.

Generally the procedure is safe and inexpensive. You can choose to have either a general anesthetic which will put you completely under for the duration of the procedure. Otherwise you can opt for a local anesthetic and a mild sedative, which will render you relaxed as the pain free operation takes place.

For most people the results are astonishing and can have a genuinely positive impact on your life. Any stares or taunting will disappear and you or your child will be free to enjoy their day and concentrate on the things in life that really matter.

However, there are some risks involved with this surgery and you should be well aware of them before you make the decision to go ahead with the surgery.

Ear Pinning Recovery

Ear pinning surgery tends to be one of the easiest cosmetic surgery procedures out there. There are several reasons for this.

Firstly, the surgery involved the reshaping of skin and cartilage so there is very little blood loss. For most other plastic surgeries blood loss is the number one factor that may create some complications.

This is standard procedure and you should be sure to make your doctor aware of any allergies you may have

Generally the procedure only takes a couple of hours, and because ea local anesthetic is used the procedure is done on an out patient basis. Therefore ear pinning surgery recovery times are very short.

In most cases a patient can expect to be back to work in about five days. All that is required is that the recovering patient wears a head bandage to protect the stitches and the new healing tissue. For those five days you should not engage in any strenuous physical activity.

The strain could damage your ears and if they were to get bumped or jostled the stitches might come loose and you will lose any progress that you have made. This could result in you having to go back and have the procedure done again which will obviously cost more money and time.

The administration of a general anesthetic usually results in the patient staying over night in the hospital for observation. Plus, children should not go back to school for ten days after the surgery, because they might be less aware of the damage that can occur if they do not protect their ears.

Also, children usually have the procedure done to stop teasing and taunting that may result from having abnormal ears. The sight of the child wearing a bandage around their head may lead to taunts that are just as severe. Children can be so cruel.

In cases of adult and child ear the doctor will prescribe pinning surgery a painkiller. This is standard procedure and you should be sure to make your doctor aware of any allergies you may have to certain medications or any history you may have with unsuccessful painkillers.

If you have any questions about ear pinning surgery or if You would like to schedule a free consultation with a ear surgeon in your area, fill in the form on the right-hand side of this page and one of our experts will contact you shortly!

Ear Reconstruction

Ear reconstruction is a serious undertaking and is only for those with massive ear trauma or genetic defects. Though the final result is only an approximation of a healthy ear, it can give the patient a level of confidence and self-esteem that they have never experienced.

Some genetic defects and serious trauma can result in the entire ear or portions of it that are missing. This is even more obvious than protruding and abnormal ears since entire sections of the ear are seriously deformed or missing.

People with grave ear defects like this desire a solution that can give them back what they lost. Their self-confidence is often diminished and the humiliation they suffer every day can be crippling. There's now hope for these people. That's because ear reconstruction through plastic surgery has a way to rebuild an ear.

Plastic surgeons have been experimenting with ear reconstruction and plastic surgery for years. There are some key challenges to overcome when undergoing any ear reconstruction. It is a lengthy procedure that requires a lot of preparation and careful surgical work.

Doctors must find sufficient quantities of replacement material elsewhere in the body to successfully rebuild an ear. Lastly, the shape of the final product must look like a real ear and replicate its complex 3-D shape as much as possible. To this effect, surgeons often take pictures and casts of the patient's healthy ear and attempt to mirror it.

The skin for the procedure often comes from the legs or the arm, while the cartilage preferred comes from the ribs. The surgeon must gauge the right quantities of both, excise them, and place the over the target ear area. The skin must be pulled back with great care in order to make room for the donor material.

The entire procedure takes many hours and several different stages before completion. The healing process is also incredibly long and can be painful. Full effects of the surgery may not be seen until years afterwards, though a good indication of the relative success of the operation can be seen after half a year.

Cosmetic Ear Surgery

Unlike anti-aging cosmetic procedures like Botox and face lifts and such, cosmetic ear surgery is more of a life achievement than an attempt to turn back the clock. For many people, growing up with the stigma of having large ears, or ears with an abnormal shape can be a real trial.

However, what ever doesn't kill you makes you stronger right. So right now you probably have skin thicker than a Rhino, and there probably isn't much people can say about your ears that you haven't heard before.

But, still, if you could change the shape and size of your ears you would. Not, just to stop the teasing and the stares, you couldn't care less what ignorant people think of your appearance. But you'd like to do it for yourself, to make yourself feel better.

Over the past couple of decades more and more people have made the decision to do something about the way their ears look, and as a result cosmetic ear surgery is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing segments of the plastic surgery market.

The amount of procedures done each year has also ensured that recovery times and cost have both gone way down, while customer satisfaction has gone way up. In most cases ear surgery can be done on an out patient basis with only a local anesthetic. This also means that more people are candidates for the procedure as there are less possible side effects due to the anesthetic.

The out patient benefit also ensures that the price is lower as the patient does not have to pay for the costly anesthetic nor do they have to pay for an over night hospital bed which can cost hundreds of dollars.

So if you want to make that life changing decision all you have to do is find a board certified plastic surgeon in the area and set up a consultation and they will be more than happy to quote you a price and start showing you the way to get the ears that you have always wanted.