Question:
My daughter is seven years old and has ears that stick out from her face. She’s always being teased about her ears, and my husband and I are contemplating an ear pinning procedure for her. I heard that the younger someone is, the easier this type of surgery is. Could you please tell me if this is true or not?
Answer:
The cartilage of childrens ears is softer and slightly more sculptable than the cartilage of adults. I tend to use similar surgical procedures in a seven your old undergoing otoplasty as I do for otoplasty in adults. I think that the advantage of having otoplasty in younger individuals is that earlier otoplasty surgery will help the child avoid all of the social issues that are associated with prominant ears. The recovery from otoplasty surgery is not terribly traumatic for either children or adults.
Posted by Dr. Philip Schoenfeld