Otoplasty or Prominent Ear Correction

Otoplasty is a plastic surgery operation to correct prominent ears or bat ear deformity as referred to be Medicare. The term “Oto” is Greek for ear and “plasty” is Greek for to mould and to shape.

What is the downtime of Prominent Ear Correction?

The downtime is approximately 5 days and the procedure itself takes 70 minutes and is day surgery. It is expected for the patient to have a head bandage for 5 days followed by wearing a sweat ban for night sleeping over the next 6 weeks. The use of the sweat ban is to prevent movement of the ear while sleeping.

Is Otoplasty covered by Medicare?

An Otoplasty is covered by Medicare under the Correction of Bat Ear description. A referral is required by your GP and the procedure attracts a rebate. If you have private health insurance there will be no hospital fee for the day surgery and the rebate will be better.

What is the minimum age of an Otoplasty Prominent Ear Correction?

5 years of age is the minimum age of a Otoplasty Prominent ear correction as the child understands the process and what the surgery will achieve. Any younger and you are causing unnecessary anxiety for your child. Teasing tends to begin in primary school and as such this is the time to consider surgery. It is imperative that the child wants it done also and not just the parents. They need to understand the surgery and recovery phase and they will be more invested in the post operative care.

The oldest person I operated on was 64 and she said “I have waited 60 years for this surgery”.

An Otoplasty has the ability to significantly improve the psycho social welfare of the individual and encourage children and young Adults to wear there hair short or up.

What is involved with an Otoplasty Prominent Ear Correction?

An Otoplasty involves re-shaping the cartilage by either cutting or suturing the cartilage. Prominent ears have three features that are common and include lack of anti-helical fold, conchal excess and increase scapha-concha angle and scapho-mastoid angle. Essentially increase in distance from ear to scalp and lack of normal ear contours.

The surgery involves correcting each of these deformities by either cutting the cartilage to set it back or suturing the cartilage to set it back. Often a combination of these two methods is performed. The cartilage is accessed through an incision behind the ear.

Other Ear Anomalies

Prominent ears or Bat ears are part of a spectrum of conditions that affect the external ear. In some cases a smaller ear with some minor cartilage imperfections occur. This ear deformity is termed a constricted ear. A constricted ear can be just smaller, it may be smaller and prominent. A lop ear or telephone ear is the term used. The ear may be partly hidden and called cryptotia or the ear may have a third crus. All these ear anomalies can be repaired and fixed with surgery. The surgery involves drawing the normal ear and if both ears are affected drawing the parents ear and estimating what is missing and where. Cartilage from the ear or rib cartilage can then be used to reconstruct the ear to a normal size and shape and of course correct any prominence as constructed ears are often prominent.

How much does an Otoplasty cost?

An Otoplasty costs approximately $3600 for the surgery. Anaesthetic costs and hospital costs may be covered by a health fund with a referral.

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Disclaimer: At Artiste Plastic Surgery, our Plastic Surgeons led by Dr Jack Zoumaras have been trained to the highest possible degree. All surgery has risks and it is always advised to get a second opinion. Risks are very real and we cannot guarantee any result. Results are illustrated as a guide only. All risks are managed and any need for revision surgery or complications (1-5%) can be managed by our specialist plastic surgeons.

Any statements on how you will feel is based on Level V Evidence:

Level V:  How you will feel after plastic surgery varies between individuals, depending on psychological and physical factors. Our internal research is based on how patients in our practice feel after surgery.

The blogs are not a substitute for a medical consultation and do not form as part of the doctor to patient relationship.