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How much will it cost? The fee for ear surgery can be located in the suggested fees . Please call my office for an accurate price quote or make an appointment for a personal consultation to discuss your specific concerns. My suggested quotes include professional fees, anesthesia fees, operating room costs, house calls, before care and after care. They do not include hospitalization costs, prescriptions, home nursing care, preoperative history and physical examination, laboratory costs, or pathology fees. If you compare prices, make sure that you consider all these costs. In addition, ear surgery usually requires some time off work for a safe recovery. I require complete payment two weeks in advance of all cosmetic surgery. What can I do about my protruding ears? Protruding ears are a result of insufficient congenital folding of the ear cartilage. Ear surgery completes the natural folding of the ear and corrects prominent ears. It is interesting to note that if this is recognized immediately after birth, some correction can be completed by gently taping the ear to the scalp. This must be done only under the direction of a physician. Will I ever be exactly the same on both sides? It is normal to have differences in ear size and shape. Surgery can reduce these differences but not eliminate them. It will be necessary for you to adjust to some ear asymmetry after your surgery. Will there be scars after surgery? Scars are part of all surgery. It is important to understand where ear surgery scars will be placed. Ear surgery scars are placed on the back surface of the ear and extend vertically from the earlobe to the top of the ear. They are hidden on the unexposed portion of the ear. What are the risks of ear surgery? There are risks with any surgery. Infection, excessive bleeding, abnormal scarring, poor healing, slow healing, skin loss, changes in skin sensation, muscle or nerve injury, although uncommon, can occur with any surgery. Fortunately, most problems that result from such complications are correctable with additional surgery. Although rare, severe ear deformity can occur as a result of severe infection. Stitch failure can is also lead to recurrent ear protrusion. You must understand your risk of complications completely before you choose to have ear surgery. I have heard about so many bad things on television, is it safe to have ear surgery? There are always risks with ear surgery. When severe complications are combined with inexperienced surgeons, poor results can occur. I believe that ear surgery can be done safely with a high degree of patient satisfaction. Serious problems are usually related to infection and/or medical problems. Most poor results can be improved with additional surgery. What can you tell me about this new technique I saw on television? Everyone in America wants the latest in medical care. This is not always the best medical care. At times media presentations will leave out critical information about potential complications, quality of result, and FDA regulation. I am open minded when it comes to new technology but I would rather not use my patients to try out the newest techniques. Recent advances in ear surgery include simplified techniques to reduce the size of the ear lobe. How old do I have to be to have this surgery? Eighty-five percent of ear development is completed by the age of five years. When surgery is done before this time, there is a chance of poor ear growth. If peer ridicule is very severe, surgery can be considered at this early age. However, it is very stressful for a young child to have this surgery since a general anesthesia is required. For this reason, I suggest that surgery be postponed until teenage years if possible. For general health reasons, I recommend that all my patients stop smoking. It is clear that smoking increases your risk for developing all sorts of cancers. Breathing problems like emphysema and circulatory problems including heart attacks are also linked to smoking. Smoking can increase the risk of coughing after your surgery that can lead to unwanted bleeding. Smoking also reduces blood flow that can result in skin loss during the healing period. Both of these problems can ruin the results of your ear surgery and lead to revision surgery. It is always best to stop smoking. Other than acceptance of a deformity and changes in hairstyle, there are no other choices. What additional procedures can I consider that will enhance the result? Surgeries can be combined to yield dramatic and complimentary results. For safety reasons, I recommend the length of surgery be limited to six hours and no more than two areas of the body be treated at the same time. Ear surgery for adults is frequently combined with facial rejuvenation surgery (facelift, forehead lift, and laser resurfacing), facial liposuction, facial implants, nose surgery, and buccal fat pad excision. Am I a good candidate for ear surgery? This is a question that can only be answered after a personal consultation. Ear surgery is suggested to patients with protruding ears or large earlobes. There are other things to consider as well including psychiatric conditions, life stress, medical illness, obesity, and motivation. You should be a healthy nonsmoker, within twenty pounds of your ideal weight. Major life stresses (i.e. grieving a death and divorce) must be absent in your life. The ideal candidate is motivated by internal desires to look better. How many times can I have ear surgery done? It is unusual to need this surgery more than once.
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