The normal angle at which ears protrude from the side of the head is about 15o. Ears that stick out at an angle greater than this, or by more than two cm from the back of the head, are considered prominent. Even very prominent ears cause no physical hardship or discomfort but they can be the source of great embarrassment, particularly to children and adolescents.
It is widely accepted that young people with protruding ears suffer real psychological distress due to the ribbing and name-calling they are faced with from their friends and classmates. Children can be very cruel to each other at times and children and adolescents who are naturally shy have great difficulty coping with teasing about their ears.
Ear correction surgery is carried out most frequently on young people between the ages of four and fourteen to avoid the pain of being taunted and laughed at by other children. Early surgery at the age of five or six, by which age the ears have reached full size, has the dual benefit that the cartilage is more pliable and easier to reshape, and the ears are corrected before the child starts school.
Some adults also opt to have otoplasty later in life. It may be that they were not offered the opportunity during school years, or perhaps the effects of natural ageing make them more aware of the problem. Men often find that thinning hair makes it more difficult to camouflage prominent ears. Women opt to have ear plastic surgery to boost their self confidence and give them a wider choice of hairstyle, rather than having to stick to ear-covering cuts. Many adults who have cosmetic ear surgery report that they regret not having it done sooner.
Less commonly, ear correction surgery is required by people who have irregularly shaped ears that draw unwanted attention from others. The portion of hard and raised cartilage that shapes the upper part of the pinna does not form in some people. This ‘lop-ear’ deformity is inherited and causes the ear to either stick out or flop down. It is possible to stitch the upper ear cartilage and hold it in place until scar tissue forms to create a fold of harder tissue that props the ear up. Other deformities such as shell ear or cup ear, or even complete absence of an ear can also be corrected; your surgeon can provide specific ear correction surgery information for you in these special cases.
