I have large ears that stick out, should I pin them back?
Question:
I have large ears that stick out. I’m a woman and I feel like this is particularly noticeable and unattractive. I’ve consulted with one surgeon who has said that he would just pin back the ears and not change the size or shape at all. I really have my heart set on having them smaller as well and I was wondering if this is common practice to just pin them back.
Answer:
In the far majority of patients, all we need to do is reshape the ear so that it will not stick out away from the head so much and this alone will create a very natural appearance and make the far majority of patients extremely happy. For a select group of patients that actually have overly large ears, we can perform a type of ear reduction procedure where cartilage is actually removed and reshaped so that not only the ear is set back closer to the head, but also the ear is actually smaller. This is extremely uncommon but, nonetheless, it does occur occasionally and ultimately I need to evaluate your actual ears and the anatomy thereof then make a decision as to what would be best in your particular circumstance.


