Ear Surgery (Otoplasty) Before & After Photos

Otoplasty is the procedure offered to reshape a prominent ear. Prominent ears are often hereditary. The anatomy can involve:

• excess cartilage of the conchal bowl
• a weak fold of the superior crus
• blunted angle of projection of the ear from the head

There is no one-size-fits-all approach, as every patient and every ear is unique.

Here, scoring of the anterior cartilage, multiple shaping sutures, and skin excision, were all employed to achieve a natural result without appearing overly pinned back.

He is seen here at 1 month post-operatively. All photos shared with patient consent, and may not be distributed or reproduced without express, written consent.

This man came to us with severe facial asymmetry even after over 10 surgeries elsewhere for Parry Romberg Syndrome.

Those surgeries included 2 free flap surgeries, but he still had a fair amount of asymmetry and tightness of the upper cheeks and soft tissue on the entire left side of his face.

He has since gone through two surgeries with us.

He is a full year since a dermal-fat graft to the cheek, and fat injections around the eye and cheek. The grafting has held up well, with no further fat grafting nor fillers since then.

More recently, a few weeks ago we performed a septorhinoplasty with cartilage and acellular dermal grafting, via a closed approach (no incision across the columella).

Some cartilage did come from his ear, and in the process that ear was intentionally set back to improve that ear symmetry despite the severely asymmetric bony base.

His breathing has improved as well, and he is happy with the improvements we’ve been able to make!

This patient came to us after a previous otoplasty by another surgeon.

Her left ear remained overprojected after the set back gave way as the absorbable sutures dissolved.

A second operation was performed to strengthen the setback of the superior crus and antihelical fold, as well as the conchomastoid angle. This was done with permanent sutures to minimize the chance of another relapse.

Care was taken to create a natural curve and contour, all through an incision placed on the hidden side of the ear.

This Stahl’s ear – with the extra, third fold distorting the normal curve of the ear – can lead people to be self-conscious.

Several women have said they always wear their hair down, or at least pulled over the upper part of their ear.

Ideally, we place an EarWell device to mold that curve away while the cartilage is soft shortly after birth.

Once you are an adult, this procedure may be done in the clinic in about an hour.

An incision is made on the back, hidden side of the ear. The extra fold was carefully removed, the framework repaired, and the skin redraped.

I used the excised cartilage as a graft on the hidden side in order to bolster the shape and strength long term.

He is seen here at just 4 weeks after the procedure. The natural curves — light and shadows — are improved, and will continue to camouflage further as the swelling comes down, and the skin contracts and remodels.