This was addressed to a question for a person who had otoplasty by another surgeon who had one ear more pinned down as opposed to the other treated ear.

The side of the ear with a more pinned down appearance can be treated if needed.  One thing to realize is that the top of your ear is likely to lateralize or shift away from your head with time. But having symmetric ears to begin with after your procedure is an important first step. You may want to ask your surgeon if you haven’t already about his plan to help you through this asymmetry.  Sometimes swelling on one side more than the other is the cause and it will go down and even out after time.  Your Surgeon will know best about what is going on.

Sometimes, it can be due to how you sleep and temporary curling of your ear cartilage right after your procedure can be the culprit and this can last for a while. Your surgeon will know the best. If you do need correction of this, a revision can do this with some effort. It will depend on where the asymmetry is located. If is because your ear is setback to far, you may need some tissue opposed between your ear and your skull.

If it’s due to the top portion of the ear being too curled this can be released and resutured to treat the asymmetry. Healing takes time. Numbness can be present for 6 months to a year after a procedure. The nerves grow a millimeter a day in the best  of conditions and will take time to reach the numb areas. You typically gain 60% of your wound strength at 6 weeks and 80% at 6 months. This is a good way to gauge how your healing is taking place.

If things go as planned, you should pretty much have a normal looking ear 1-2 weeks after your procedure. It takes skill to make sure that this happens on the part of your surgeon. Meticulous control of oozing makes a difference as well as frequent followups. Sometimes, surgeons will make little drainage holes in the field of the otoplasty procedure to allow for drainage that usually heals imperceptibly. Others employ small drains to help with the healing.

The less trauma your surgeon does during the procedure helps with healing as well.  The more skillful you do the surgery, the better. I usually wrap the person the first 24 hours to 72 hours and then the patient wears a head band after procedure nonstop for 1 week and then at night for 2 months. The sutures I place are usually absorbable, but I still have them come back the day after and then 6-7 days after the procedure and then 1-2 weeks after that.

You can have multiple procedures, but with that comes an extra cost, but also possibly additional savings when you combine procedures. You should really think about the comfort level for yourself after multiple procedures.

When multiple procedures are done, there is more to take care of and more to consider in terms of your appearance. You will need to get used to differences in your appearance in multiple different areas, and this is something you should really think about.

The more procedures, the longer the surgery time, and sometimes the more recovery as well. Each area needs to be considered on its own and attention to detail for each procedure is a must on the part of you and particularly your surgeon. You should be comfortable that your surgeon will do his best for each procedure which really carries its own particular nuances. Someone with a good sense of aesthetics is a must.

Otoplasty can be done through very small and unnoticeable incisions behind the ear.  Very natural results can be attained.  You should see my website for pictures and testimonials.