Who should get plastic surgery done on their ear?

Who should get plastic surgery done on their ear?

Steve Fallek (Plastic Surgeon & Medical Director, Face Focus Medical Spa, New York City) gives expert video advice on: Who should get plastic surgery done on their ear? and more...

There is a medical condition called microtia where children are born without ears or with small ear buds. This is very common, and even more common outside of this country. It entails significant ear re-construction, usually when patients are five years old. It's usually the time when we start doing ear reconstruction. It requires a variety of different procedures, usually three or four procedures in terms of reconstructing the ear and making it look like the other ear. For the majority of patients though, otoplasty or ear surgery is for cosmetic purposes where the ears stick out. Usually that's because there's a lack of cartilage in the upper ear, where the ear instead of bending in just flails out. The procedure for an otoplasty is to bend that cartilage and to bend the ear so it gives the ear a more appropriate look.