Otoplasty Ear Surgery Guide

By Ear Surgeon Dr. Michel Siegel – Houston, Texas Facial Plastic Surgeon

Ear Pinning Surgery, also called Otoplasty, is designed to flatten the shape of the ears. It is done for people that have “cup shaped” ears. There are numerous surgical ways to re-shape the ear, to try and give a more natural look. The type of procedure used should be chosen by the type of ear deformity needed to be addressed.

An Example of Otoplasty

Let’s look at two patient’s ear to understand how surgery can change a cupped shaped ear, to a flatter more natural looking ear.

This picture shows a picture shows a cupped ear. Part of what makes this ear stick out, is the wide distance between the ear and the skull (red arrow).

To make this ear flatter this distance needs to be shortened.

Another Example of Ear Pinning

Now let’s look at the two ears from the side, one cupped (on the left) and one normal (on the right).

We can see that the ear on the left is pulled away from the head, while the ear on the right sits flatter against the skull. This is because the ear on the left side lacks a well defined crease. By looking at the blue arrows on the right picture, we can see that a natural fold exists along the side. This fold makes the ear stand back and sit flat against the head.

To make the left ear similar to the one on the right picture, a fold needs to be created. This fold will permit the ear to bend backward and sit in a more natural position.

The green area in this picture shows where the fold needs to be created to allow the ear to sit closer to the head.

The last thing that needs to be done to reduce the size of the cartilage along the entrance to the ear (purple area). This will allow the lower portion of the ear to sit flatter against the head.

This is just one example of how this patient’s ear was approached. Each ear is unique, and as such the procedure and the way that the surgery is done needs to be tailored to give the most natural result.