Is there really a surgery out there to reduce the size of the ear? Yes, there is!
Here is yet another great case example that visually demonstrates this type of surgery. This particular patient came to San Diego specifically to have Dr. Hilinski perform his famed macrotia ear reduction surgery on him. Ever since he was in his teens, he was bothered – like so many patients – by the fact that his ears were simply too large for his face.
Just like other facial features that prompt people to seek out plastic surgery, such as a large nose or prominent chin, overly large ears are increasingly bringing patients into the office. Although many people don’t even pay attention to their ears, there are folks out there who stare at their ears every day and are incredibly self-conscious about ears that are too large. Whenever these patients look in the mirror or see a photo of themselves, the ears are the first thing they see. Is this any different than someone who has a nose that dominates their facial appearance? Nope. And this patient here happened to be one of those people.
After researching online, he discovered that otoplasty, or ear pinning, was not going to be the answer for his situation. He realized that he did not need his ears pinned back – but made smaller in size. His ears were just too big from top to bottom. The internet led him to Dr. Hilinski, who he realized was really the only plastic surgeon out there who has an extensive library of before and after photos showing ear reduction results.
The ear reduction was performed under local anesthesia and took about 2 hours to complete. There is usually minimal pain after macrotia surgery like this – with most patients only taking over the counter Tylenol for pain relief. Unlike otoplasty, the surgical bandages only need to be worn for 48 hours. Thereafter, ear reduction patients are recommended to wear an athletic sweat band for 6 weeks while sleeping at night. But other than that, there is very little that patients have to do following surgery.
Here are this patient’s actual before and after photos showing how much change there has been in the size of his ears nearly 6 weeks after surgery. As you can readily tell, the ear has been completely reshaped. More specifically, the size of the ear has been reduced from top to bottom. Dr. Hilinski was able to take away a good portion of the top of the ear in combination with making the earlobe smaller in size. Collectively, this resulted in an ear that is significantly smaller in size with much better shape. For the patient, this type of cosmetic transformation meant so much to him. In fact, he was tearful when Dr. Hilinski revealed the changes to him. For his entire adult life he was bothered everyday by having large ears. No longer is this a concern for him – and it never will be following macrotia ear reduction surgery by Dr. Hilinski. Were were honored to be part of his journey to overcome this incredibly bothersome issue.
