Here is another fantastic case example of ear reduction surgery for a large, macrotic ear. This young lady flew to California from Illinois to have Dr. Hilinski reduce the size of her ears. As you can see in this photo taken prior to macrotia surgery, she has a taller, larger ear than desired. Part of this was an overly developed scapha region near the top of the ear. But she also had an enlarged earlobe that bothered her. In fact, if you look real closely, you can see that she has a scar where the earlobe meets the face. That is because she already had prior earlobe reduction surgery performed by a different plastic surgeon back in Illinois.
After researching online, she discovered that Dr. Hilinski is one of the only plastic surgeons in all of America that has dedicated experience in making large ears smaller in size. And we are not talking about otoplasty, or ear pinning, surgeons who claim that they perform ear reduction surgery. We are really talking about true ear reduction, or macrotia ear surgery. This is a highly specialized procedure that reduces the overall size of the ear by reshaping the scapha with or without reducing the size of the earlobe. This is NOT ear pinning that pulls the closer to the side of the head. So many plastic surgeons will recommend this to patients who really need to have the ears made smaller in size. Within seconds of looking at this patient, Dr. Hilinski knew that she needed a smaller ear and suggested macrotia ear reduction surgery to include earlobe reshaping.
The top of the patient’s ear was reduced by taking away the excess skin and cartilage. The earlobe was then reshaped by excising some of the soft tissue and reattaching the earlobe to the side of the face.
Because the patient lived outside of California and was flying back home, she was seen 48 hours after the surgery to have the bandages removed. Photos were taken to document the transformation of her ears and are shown below. As you can readily see, the ear has an obvious pink hue to it and there is notable swelling. But keep in mind that this is just 2 days out from ear reduction surgery. This appearance is totally normal for this stage of recovery and reflects surgical inflammation from the procedure. More importantly, you can see that her ear is now smaller in size after Dr. Hilinski’s famed ear reduction procedure. The top of the ear is no longer excessively high and now has a shorter curvature. In addition, her earlobe is now shorter in size and has a new attachment point to the face. All in all, she has smaller, daintier ears that are more fitting for her overall facial appearance. And this photo comparison is only 2 days out from ear reduction surgery! Imagine how much better her ears will look as the swelling and inflammation begin to subside.
