Ear protrusion is a common reason to seek the advice of a facial plastic surgeon. Concerns with protruding ears unfortunately often start during childhood. Kids tease each other about extreme protrusion, and by age 6-7 this teasing can cause undue stress on the child, so some parents seek surgical corrections at that age for their children. Other times, patients come as adults who have been bothered for many years by this relatively easy-to-fix problem. We see patients growing their hair specifically to cover the ears, or even wearing headbands to hide the ears. Whatever your motivation maybe, if you are bothered by your ear protrusion, then otoplasty surgery is an option for you. At DC Cosmetics, we can help produce natural-appearing but dramatic results for ear protrusion, often under local anesthesia.
Washington, DC Surgeon M.R. Khalifeh offers surgical correction for protruding ears. The two treatments available are incisionless (less common, for more minor cases) and traditional otoplasty. Traditional otoplasty is done by accessing the ear cartilage from hidden retroauricular incision and manipulating the cartilages to the desired shape. Incisionless otoplasty uses specially inserted sutures to reshape the cartilage, especially the antihelical fold. The surgery can be done either with local anesthesia alone (Dr. Khalifeh's Choice) or under general anesthesia if desired by younger or more anxious patients.
Not performed by Dr. Khalifeh, but a technique useful if the condition is caught in the first 2-3 weeks of life, is cartilage molding on the newborn with specialized splints.
