Otoplasty is a surgery that corrects defects in the ears.

Open or too large ears affect appearance and self-confidence.

Otoplasty is a simple surgical procedure that reshapes or reduces the size of the ears, achieving a correct symmetry between them.

It is a surgery that is practiced on people of all ages with a fantastic result. It is one of the few interventions that takes place in children as well as adults.

Ears that are too far apart or detached from the head can bring about psychological affections usually brought on from childhood and caused by the taunts of other boys and girls of the same age.

If you or one of your sons and daughters have had to live with this problem, you may also experience how a simple surgery will make you never hear appeals like blow ears, Dumbo, and other such things. Through otoplasty you can end forever with this problem, and from being a complexed person to becoming a human being satisfied with the appearance of his ears framing his smiling face.

It is advisable to operate from the age of 7, which is when the tissues of the child's ears have reached their final size. Cartilage is already formed and has acquired its highest degree of consistency. However there are cases in which age can be advanced, when the child experiences psychological and social trauma related to this problem.

There are other problems for which Otoplasty is a good choice: for example, those ears in which the top is bent down, or the ears are extremely small, or the ears that present some type of deformity, or those that have the Large lobes, or those that are 'open' at a separate angle from the skull.

Surgery

An otoplasty usually lasts between 2 and 3 hours and is performed on an outpatient basis, ie, does not require hospitalization.

If the child is small, it is best to perform the procedure under general anesthesia, however, for older children and adults, local anesthesia associated with sedation will be used.

The technique employed will depend on the patient's problem.

Usually a small incision is made in the back of the ear, then the cartilage is remodeled and folded back using internal points to maintain the new shape. The scar is not noticeable since it is behind the ear.

After the surgery, a bandage is placed around the head, during the first two or three days there may be discomfort, usually controllable with the medication that is recommended.

Postoperatorio

  1. The first few days the bandage may heal or 'itch' and you may experience a feeling of warmth in the surrounding area. At 3 days the bandage is removed in consultation and replaced for 2 weeks with an elastic band of those usually used to hold the hair.
  2. It is necessary to use the hair band as long as possible, especially for sleeping, thus avoiding unintentional rubbing with the pillow.
  3. At first the ears will be quite swollen, with a look similar to when it is very cold (bruised), but little by little the inflammation is disappearing.
  4. The stitches are removed between 10-15 days, but the patient can become normal after 3 or 4 days, when the bandage is removed Most adults are incorporated into a life almost normal 3 days after surgery ; The children return to school in about 7 days, Always be very careful with physical activities.
  5. You should sleep in semi-position and do not support the ears aside.
  6. It is necessary to avoid very hot situations, as well as to put on glasses during the first weeks, from which it is deduced that it is better to avoid going to the beach to take the sun.
  7. The results are seen during the first month and are definitive in 3 to 4 months.
  8. The scar resulting from otoplasty is concealed behind the ear. In addition to being hidden and unnoticed as the months pass, this type of surgery usually has a very short healing period.

The result of the operation is usually in the great majority of cases, permanent and very satisfactory.