Do I have prominent ears?

Before moving on to the disorders that cause the appearance of prominent ears, I would like to talk about a situation I frequently encounter in my patients who come for examination: “They say my ears are not prominent” or “Are my ears prominent?” 

Most of my ear patients are told by family members and friends that they don’t need otoplasty. However, after looking at the before and after photos after recovery, I have never seen them say, “There was no need for surgery.” As a plastic surgeon who has performed surgery in many other areas of plastic surgery, I can say that patients encounter the most resistance from loved ones regarding the ear. Faced with such resistance, the patient often questions whether he or she has prominent ears. I must emphasize this here: during the examination, I never tell patients whether their ears are prominent or not. Instead, I ask my patients what they don’t like about their ears and what changes they expect from surgery. If the patient’s expectations can be met with surgery, then we proceed on with the surgery. Sometimes, I may decide to perform otoplasty on a patient with a slight deformity if the patient’s expectations can be met with surgery, while, on the other hand, I may refuse surgery despite a very obvious deformity if his/her expectations cannot be met with surgery.

Having clarified this, let’s look at what kind of deformities can cause the ears to attract attention, one by one through photographs. 

This part of the ear is moved backwards by making this fold more prominent with suture techniques.

It is necessary to completely release the fold of the antihelix lower leg from the back and create a more acute angle with stitching techniques; Thus, the upper part of the ear is brought closer to the head.

The fold here is created using stitching techniques. When creating this fold, moving it too far back may cause an unnatural appearance on the ear.

Before intervening in the concha, it is necessary to create the inverted fold here and fix this area with stitches. After this procedure, it may not even be necessary to intervene in the concha.

Intervention in the depth of the concha requires removal of excess cartilage tissue there. Fixing the turbinate to the head with stitches behind the ear without removing the cartilage tissue may reduce the movement capacity of the ear and cause the protrusion to reappear.

In the treatment of this disorder, it is necessary to make an incision in the front part of the ear and some tissue is removed to create a fold there.

Depending on the underlying cause, the prominence of the earlobe can be reduced by intervening in the cartilage or by removing tissue from certain parts of the skin of the earlobe, and sometimes by removing tissue from the bulk of the earlobe.

The earlobe can be reduced in size by removing skin and subcutaneous tissues from the earlobe in full thickness through various incisions. In such a surgery, incisions on the earlobe also occur on the visible side of the earlobe.

When moving the ear back is not enough to eliminate the problem, this protrusion can be reduced by making an incision on the front of the ear.

The parts of the ear that are large are reduced in size by making incisions in the visible parts of the ear but the scars usually heal very well and because the incisions are made along the natural contours of the ear, they remain relatively hidden.

The alignment of the ear on the head may cause the ear to appear more protruding. In this photo, on the right side, you can see the pre-operative photo of a patient whose ear is relatively more hidden due to its alinement on the head, and on the middle and left side, pre- and post-op photos of a patient where the ear looks more prominent than it is due to its alinement.

It is not possible to intervene in the alignment of the ear, but the prominence of the ear can be reduced by moving the ear as far back as possible.

This additional leg can be straightened using various stitching and surgical techniques.

Cup Ear

The interventions may differ depending on the severity of the disorder. However, in these patients, one should not expect the ear to regain a completely normal structure. The aim here should be to make the ear attract less attention.