Otoplasty, also known as ear surgery or ear pinning surgery, is a procedure designed to correct protruding ears. As a Hawaii ear surgery physician who has had the privilege of working alongside Dr. Burt Brent, the number one ear surgeon in the world, I am qualified to identify and correct the three most common culprits of protruding ears:
Underdeveloped anti-helical fold – Normally, the anti-helical fold bends the ear closer to the head. But if this fold is underdeveloped, the ear will sit straight out from the head and appear more prominent. For my Honolulu ear surgery patients who have this problem, I can create or augment the fold to correct protruding ears with sutures developed by renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Jack Mustardé’.
Overdeveloped ear cartilage: When too much ear cartilage has developed close to the head, protruding ears can result. I can skillfully remove excess ear cartilage to help patients attain a more aesthetically pleasing ear appearance. For this, I combine the Mustardé’ method with the standard-bearing cartilage scoring techniques of Dr. S.J. Stenstrom.
Overrepresented ear shell: When the part of the ear that looks like a shell is over represented, this leads to a protrusion of the ears. There are several ways to decrease the size, the most common of which is to remove 90% of the shell and sew tissue from ear to side of the head. By removing the extra fold and the cartilage, a surgeon can move the ears closer to the head.
Following surgery, our Hawaii ear surgery patients receive a slender drain under the ear which is left overnight and removed the next day. There are no dressings involved with ear surgery, and many of our Honolulu ear surgery patients return to work the day after surgery. The procedure is performed with local anesthesia, which keeps patients awake and eliminates anesthesia fatigue. However, general anesthesia can be used.
Please note: We only perform adult ear surgery at Oahu Plastic Surgery Center. For informational purposes, I recommend that parents interested in the procedure for their children proceed with surgery before age five; if the child is over five, I suggest waiting until age ten.
If you are an adult who is interested in undergoing ear surgery in Hawaii, I invite you to schedule a consultation at my office. I look forward to meeting with you.
To discuss undergoing ear surgery in Hawaii, contact Oahu Plastic Surgery Center today to schedule an initial consultation at our office in Honolulu. S. Larry Schlesinger, MD, FACS will be glad to speak with potential Oahu ear surgery patients during that time.
