Patient Info
- Gender:
- Male
- Age:
- 5 years old
- Surgeon:
- Dr. Inessa Fishman
Description
This 5-year-old boy presented with overly prominent ears, a feature present in his family. Facial plastic surgeon Dr. Fishman treated him with otoplasty, or surgical ear shaping, to place the ears closer to the head. This patent’s otoplasty surgery involved trimming a small piece of cartilage at the concha (or seashell-shaped bowl of cartilage just behind the ear canal) to decrease the concha’s height and bring the ear closer to the head; and reshaping the upper part of the ear to deepen a fold of cartilage called the antihelical fold. The patient is shown 1.5 years after surgery, with great healing progress and a beautiful, natural outcome.
Children can have otoplasty surgery at the youngest age of 5-6 years old. While children treated with otoplasty do best with general anesthesia (or being asleep in the operating room), most adults can have otoplasty surgery with the help of relaxing by-mouth medications, laughing gas, and injected numbing medications.