The Importance of Otoplasty
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0by Health Blogger Linda James
The way a person looks and feels is important for raising self-esteem. Your physical appearance has everything to do with this, and very often there are smaller and sometimes less apparent portions of your features that play a significant role. Your hands, your nose and eyes are easily noticed. However, your ears too play a huge role in shaping your overall physical appearance.
Not everyone is fortunate enough to be born with beautifully shaped ears. Some people may have appropriately-sized ears, but they somehow the shape itself may not please them, particularly if it attracts undue attention. If this causes you to alter your behavior, then you have to admit there is a problem that needs to be addressed. Indeed, there are remedies that can be availed in order to sort out your ears.
15-20% of all children are born with a deformity to their ears. This can include
- Constriction
- A fold missing
- A deep conchal bowl
- An obtuse angle
The Correct Age for Ear Shape and Size Correction
Infants have high levels of estrogen when they are born. This reaches its height on the third day of their lives. With this heightened estrogen, the plasticity of the ear cartilage increases, which is great for shaping the ear so that it assumes an appropriate position.
Once the estrogen level in the infant declines (at around 6 weeks), nonsurgical techniques for fixing ear abnormalities are not advisable as outcomes cannot be guaranteed. This means that infants will have to wait for some years for corrective ear surgery. This is because any corrective surgery done when the person is still growing will cause problems related to the size of the ear. It’s known that there is at least a 20% chance of the deformity may recur if the stitches break following a surgery. Therefore, it’s best to wait until the person is full grown.
Is Otoplasty a Good Option for Ear Shape Correction?
Otoplasty is one remedy, a surgical remedy, which is now being commonly used for setting ears right. It is also called ear pinning surgery due to the particular process involved in the surgery. This form of cosmetic surgery does not comprise major operations.
People who eventually seek otoplasty are known to:
- Suffer from low self-esteem because of the their ear size or shape
- Change their behavior to hide the ears
- Have good health, generally speaking
As mentioned earlier, ears that protrude can be cause for low self-esteem, for a child or adult. However, otoplasty can be used as a means for correcting the shape and size of your ears after the age of four. Experts tend to dispute the age factor for surgery; however, there is common ground when it comes to refraining from ear plastic surgery under the age of four.
The Basic Otoplasty Surgical Procedure
Otoplasty surgery is carried out under general anesthesia, but some experts use local anesthetic, and the otoplasty recovery period is not that long, which is great news for anyone willing to undergo the procedure. Also some techniques help to reduce pain by using advanced ear nerve block techniques.
During the surgical procedures in otoplasty, the cartilage of the ear is reshaped so that an ear is shaped to have a natural look. Before this process is initiated, there is a degree of medical planning carried out during which things like balancing the size and shape of the ear with the head of the person is mapped.
Incisions are part of the process, but are concealed at the back the ear. These incisions are important because they allow access to the cartilage. Sutures are also implemented in order to hold the cartilage in place firmly. In some surgical procedures, a certain amount of cartilage needs to be cut away in case of the ear being over-grown.
The otoplasty surgery usually lasts one to two hours, and the outcome is usually quite satisfactory. Those who undergo this surgery usually are satisfied because they know about the implications of otoplasty before and after the procedure.
Your Opinion?
Linda James
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