Prominent ears affect about 5% of the population around the world -- typically bilaterally, which means both ears stand out equally. While this condition doesn’t present any concerns medically, you may be less-than-pleased by the impact that prominent ears have on your appearance, which is where we can help.
At McHugh Plastic Surgery, our award-winning surgeon, Dr. Thomas McHugh, offers a wide variety of facial surgeries, helping our patients with everything from drooping eyelids to overly noticeable ears. While prominent ears are what drives most of our clients to seek an otoplasty (ear surgery), perhaps an accident has left you with a deformed ear.
Whatever your ear needs are, we can help reframe your face through an otoplasty.
An otoplasty is a catchall term for any number of procedures we can perform on your ears to change their size, shape, and/or position. For example, our patients come to us for an otoplasty to:
These procedures are generally fairly simple, and we only tackle the outer ear for cosmetic goals, which means that an otoplasty should have no effect on your hearing.
For your otoplasty, we place you under general anesthesia for your comfort and Dr. McHugh performs the procedure in a surgery center.
In most cases, we can perform your otoplasty on an outpatient basis, which means you’re free to return home afterward with complete aftercare instructions. Since we place you under general anesthesia, you should arrange for someone to drive you home.
For any discomfort you may feel, we prescribe pain medications, and you may have to change your sleeping position while the incisions heal. We also provide you with instructions for changing the dressings and keeping the incision sites clean to avoid infection.
Speaking of the incisions, we make every attempt to perform your otoplasty in a way that conceals any scarring. For example, if we’re pinning back prominent ears, we make the incisions behind your ears where they’re less noticeable.
Since an otoplasty is generally a minor procedure, you shouldn’t face a long recovery time. In fact, your results are immediate, as you can walk out with newly shaped or positioned ears that better frame your face.
If you’d like to steer the attention away from your ears and back to your face, contact our office in The Woodlands, Texas, to learn more about your options in ear surgery.
