The fact that people’s ears look different from usual affects their self-confidence and reduces their quality of life. Prominent ear appearance or larger-than-normal earlobes are usually congenital conditions. Ear surgery operations are performed very quickly by surgeons, have a fast recovery process, and give satisfactory results for patients. Depending on the patient’s condition, it can be applied using general or local anaesthesia. Autoplasty can be performed to correct the prominent ear appearance or to bring the earlobes larger than necessary to standard sizes. These operations, which take about an hour, do not carry any risk for the patient.

Ear aesthetics is a correction surgery performed because the cartilaginous tissue outside of the organ that provides our hearing is too protruding. This operation, also known as prominent ear surgery among people, is called autoplasty in the medical language.

The ears on both sides of our heads may be too protruding for many reasons. In such cases, the person may develop a self-confidence problem depending on the attitudes of the society. The extremely common ridicule situation, especially in children, can also bring about psychological issues. Therefore, Autoplasty (ear aesthetics) is an extremely important surgical intervention that affects many details. Generally, intervention in childhood is recommended by doctors considering the above reasons. Six years old is very suitable for this job.

What to Consider in Autoplasty?

It is vital to make correct calculations before surgical intervention in autoplasty. The operation is performed in accordance with the most suitable angle and size of the face so that a smooth appearance is obtained. In some cases, the curve is smooth, and the cartilaginous tissue is larger than the head structure, giving the appearance of a bucket. In this case, our doctor may not deal with the angle and may directly reduce the outer ear.

An important detail in autoplasty is to inform your doctor about the medications you use and your medical history before the surgery. It is very important that you stop smoking before the operation.

What is Prominent Ear Surgery? How is it Done?

Due to the fact that the ear structures of the people are too protruding and the resulting feeling of discomfort, prominent ear surgery is performed.

Doctors perform Autoplasty with local, not general, anaesthesia. However, it is possible to perform surgical intervention under general anaesthesia for children and people who hesitate to have surgery under local anaesthesia. Before the operation, your doctor will give you clear information on how to intervene. If there is a problem with the angle, he/she corrects it first and then shrinks the outer ear. However, if the tip is not a problem, it directly applies the reduction of the outer ear.

The most common treatment for ear aesthetics is the threaded method. Prominent ear surgery with thread, which is applied without any incision, allows the person to return to his everyday life quickly. A thread is pulled from the upper part of the ear with a medical needle, and the process is completed by giving the required angle. The operation takes approximately 2 hours.

After the surgery, the person should protect himself/herself from all possible blows to the ear. Because the first few days will be very sensitive, it would make sense to be careful.

Types of Autoplasty

In autoplasty, more than one method is applied, as in the surgery of many ailments. The most well-known of these is the rope method. However, in addition to this, many ways, such as the antihelixplasty technique, flap technique, and non-surgical prominent ear surgery, are applied. At this point, they act by considering which type of surgery the patient is suitable for.

What are Autoplasty Technique, Complications, and Follow-up?

If the dressings are performed sterile during and after the operation, no signs of infection are encountered. When the sutures used for the patient are suitable, and of high quality, no ear opening, scooping, and deformity are seen. When perioperative reasonable bleeding control and postoperative good dressing and follow-up are performed, hematoma (blood accumulation) is not observed.

After the surgery, every other day, dressing and controls take ten days in total. On the tenth day, after removing the stitches, the patient can return to his daily social life, except that he/she is advised to sleep with an elastic head bandage only at night.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will there be any scars after prominent ear surgery?

A very small scar may remain in the treated area. Since this scar remains behind the ear in prominent ear surgeries, it is invisible, and it is very small in earlobe surgeries. It is almost invisible from the outside and does not bother the patient in daily life.

Will there be pain after the operation?

There may be normal pain after the procedure. This can be relieved with simple painkillers.

Can there be hearing loss after autoplasty?

No. Hearing loss cannot be seen after prominent ear surgery.

Is there an age limit for the operation?

The operation can be applied to patients over the age of 6 years.