Take advantage of our amazing offers!

Find the secret to younger looking skin

---

This is a frequently performed operation to correct prominent ears.  The ears can be prominent for several reasons and the nature of yours or your child’s ear will be discussed with you.  It is important to point out that very often the ears are asymmetrical, and it is important for you to realize that this asymmetry will persist following surgery.

The surgery is performed on a day only basis most usually under a general anaesthetic, although very occasional for a variety of reasons, local anaesthesia may be preferable, particularly in adults. The surgery is performed by accessing the cartilaginous framework of the ear through an incision behind the ear and it’s placement will be discussed with you.

As a result of surgery there will be some discomfort, pain, swelling, bruising, as well as a scar behind the ear and there is a need to wear a head bandage for a period of up to 7 days during which time, hearing will of course be impaired to some extent.

Very occasionally there are complications of this surgery and early in the post operative convalescence exquisite pain can mean that there is the development of a haematoma (swelling due to bleeding) and this may require an emergency operation to evacuate the haematoma.

As mentioned previously there will be a scar, and whilst every attempt is made to have the scar heal without any complication, very occasionally at around 12 months the scar can become quite hypertrophic, which means that it is raised, red, itchy and uncomfortable.  Development of this type of scar will be discussed with you and it is amenable to surgical treatment.

Infection is a possible complication and its risk is less than 3%.  This may lead to an unfavourable outcome if it were to be of any severity.

An excessively tight bandage or a good deal of swelling post operatively may occasionally cause some problems with healing of the skin over the rim of the ear (pressure necrosis).  Whilst a rare complication, it generally does not cause any long term problems.

Whilst an extremely remote possibility, the surgery could, for a variety of reasons, fail to achieve the desired outcome and it is also possible that whilst there are no untoward events, or complications with respect to the surgical procedure, no guarantee can be given that you or your child will be completely happy with the end result.

Before you decide to go ahead with any surgery upon yourself or allow your child to undergo surgery, it is important to state that if you have any concerns they should be addressed before going ahead by further consultation or by way of a second opinion.