And you don’t want to make your child an easy target by having protruding ears.
Dr. Turk offers otoplasty, ear surgery, to correct a variety of conditions with the ears: protruding ears, overly large ears, large or stretched earlobes, wrinkled or creased lobes, lop ear, and shell ear. Mainly it’s the desire to simply bring the ears closer to the head.
The surgery
In most cases other than remaking the ear, otoplasty is a simple procedure. For children, the surgery is recommended between the ages of five and 14, as the ears are usually fully developed by age five and doing the procedure prior to high school is advisable. Dr. Turk usually makes the incisions behind the ears. From those incisions, he removes a small amount of cartilage. With that cartilage removed, the remaining cartilage is sutured into place, pulling the ears closer to the head. Because the incisions are made behind the ears, they are virtually invisible.
In reshaping surgeries, Dr. Turk may need to make the incisions on the front side of the ears. In these cases, he makes sure to place the incisions in the natural folds and creases of the ears.
Who can have otoplasty
While otoplasty is normally performed on children, it isn’t a difficult surgery for adults, either. If you wish you could have had your ears pinned as a child but didn’t, the surgery is still available as an adult. Other people have natural ear defects and opt for reconstructive ear surgery. Some of these congenital ear defects include cat’s ear, cagot ear, scroll ear, cleft earlobe, lop ear, microtia, macrotia, or a constricted ear. Overly large or heavy earrings can also cause torn earlobes, which can be fixed with otoplasty.
Otoplasty is not a difficult surgery, but it can sure help a child avoid a difficult time at school. Summertime is a great time to have this done. Call us at Naples Cosmetic Surgery, (239) 348-4357, to schedule a consultation with Dr. Turk.
