At Saltz Plastic Surgery, we’re all about helping our patients feel better about themselves. Vanity? No, just a more confident way to go through life.
This philosophy is no better shown than with children and ears that protrude or are overly large. This kind of situation can be devastating for a child, as other children will use this as a target for teasing.
But otoplasty, ear surgery, with Dr. Saltz can fix those ears and head off any confidence issues in the child. Adults, of course, can have the surgery as well, more often to repair torn earlobes or otherwise damaged ears.
What types of ear conditions are addressed?
- Reduction of protruding or excessively large ears
- Changing the shape of the ears
- Rejuvenating stretched or excessively fleshy earlobes
- Repairing torn earlobes or enlarged piercing holes
How is the surgery done?
Otoplasty isn’t overly complex surgery. Generally these are the techniques employed:
- A wedge of skin and cartilage may be removed from behind the ear to bring the ear closer to the head and reduce the ear size.
- Cartilage may be weakened, rolled, and held in place with sutures to create outer and inner ear folds to better define the ears.
- Silts or torn earlobes can be repaired by removing a narrow wedge of the earlobe and suturing the skin edges together.
- Excess fleshiness can be corrected by removing the excess skin in a crescent or triangular shape and suturing the skin edges together.
In most ear surgeries the incision locations can be placed behind the ear to hide any scarring.
The best time to have otoplasty is before a child enters regular school, at age five or so. The ears are usually fully developed by this time.
Let otoplasty with Dr. Saltz give your child the confidence he or she needs when they start school. Call either our Salt Lake or Park City offices for a consultation.
