Question: I’m considering otoplasty for my son. We’re from Sheboygan. I’d like to know if ears that stick out ever improve as children age.

Answer: No, unfortunately ears that stick out rarely if ever improve as children age.  There have been a variety of different studies done looking at the growth of children’s ears and though there may be some promise to using ear molds at an extremely young age, such as under one year old, to improve upon the shape of the ear, overall nonsurgical methods are not very effective.

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Question: How common is revision surgery after ear surgery?

Answer: It is overall relatively uncommon to require a revision after an otoplasty, but occasionally a suture will break or a knot may come loose and end up allowing some recurrence of the prominence of the ear.  This is relatively simple to correct but, again, overall this is not very likely to be necessary.

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Question: I had otoplasty years ago and I feel that my ears have partially returned to their initial position. Is there some reason why this would occur and could I get another procedure done?

Answer: Over time, some patient’s cartilaginous memory can cause the ear to start to protrude slightly though it seldom ever gets as bad as it had been prior to the procedure.  If it does become a problem for you, I would just recommend seeing your surgeon as a revision otoplasty can certainly be performed to try to get you the result that you desire.

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Question: I had otoplasty three days ago. Last night when I was sleeping I rolled over on my side and slept on my ear. I’m so scared I may have ruined my results! Should I be worried?

Answer: As long as your ear looks okay and does not have a significant amount of additional swelling today, I would not worry too much about the effect of sleeping on it as it should not have any long-term consequences.

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Question: I’d like to get otoplasty. Are there degrees to how much the ears are pinned back? I don’t want them to be flat against my head, I just don’t want them to stick out as much.

Answer: Yes, the otoplasty procedure is obviously customized for each individual’s ears so that we create a very natural-appearing ear that is not overly flat or pinned against the skull but has a normal degree of prominence but does not have the look of overly prominent ears.

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