Prominent Ear Correction Video – Treatment

Meet our patients and see treatment taking place in our Minor Ops Suites.

In these prominent ear correction videos, filmed at Skin Surgery Clinic Newcastle, Mr David Sainsbury carries out bilateral (both sides) otoplasty and explains the procedure.

Please note: these videos contain close up detail of surgery taking place for those who would like to understand how this procedure is performed.

Hi I'm David Sainsbury, going to talk you through one of our prominent ear corrections. First thing we do is take some measurements, mark the skin on the back of the ear and inject some local anaesthetic. We then remove a small portion of skin on the back of the ear. Once the local anaesthetic works this is painless. Some people say they can hear a scratching sound but that doesn't cause any problems. We then lift the skin off the cartilage at the back of the ear and expose the cartilage and then place stitches in, usually to recreate the inner fold of the ear known as the anti helical fold and this brings the ear back towards the side of the head. Those stitches are permanent and then the stitches used to close the skin are dissolving stitches. Do the same on the other side, so take some measurements, mark the skin to be removed and inject local anaesthetic. Remove the skin on the back of the ear and then again dissect to see the cartilage which gives the shape of the ear and place stitch in the ear to recreate that inner fold of the ear to pull the ear back towards the side of the head. The benefit of doing this under local anaesthetic is the patient can see the results and then we close the skin with dissolving stitches. Once that's done, put a headband on which is usually worn for about a week. This is us putting the dressing on at the end of the procedure. It usually takes about two hours to do both sides and then this headband is worn for a week following the operation.

Treatment begins by booking a Consultation appointment with one of our Consultant Plastic Surgeon where we will assess your condition and your suitability for treatment.

So I'm going to talk through a double ear problem ear correction. This man had prominent ears on both sides so we mark an incision at the back of the ear just in front of the crease then inject local anaesthetic Once the skin is nice and numb we cut out the skin or a small amount of skin at the back of ear This allows us to gain access to the cartilage whilst doing this we stop any bleeding and then release the skin over the back of the ear to see the cartilage. Most of the time the problem is due to under development of the inner fold of the ear known as the anti helical fold and we put sutures in to re reconstruct that in a fold of the ear. You can see here those sutures are put in and the ear has been pulled back into a very pleasing position. Most cases it's bilateral so both ears so again we do the same thing on the other side remove the skin or remove some of the skin on the back of the ear, Carefully dissect to expose the cartilage on the back of the ear and then Once sufficient cartilage has been exposed place those stitches in to reconstruct the inner fold of the ear. They're permanent stitches so they will stay in place forever Once that's done we close the wound on the back of the ear with a dissolving stitch. Typically we would see a patient back in a week to make sure the wound is healing okay but if they're from further afield we can do a video call.

Once you have discussed your hopes and suitability for treatment, our team will offer you an operating date and time to suit you, for a fixed no-surprises fee and with no waiting list.

So this gentleman's come to see us with prominent ears. We use a a suture based technique. We can do this in the local anesthetic. Typically takes an hour and a half to do. So the first thing we do is make an incision on the back of the ear. This means the final scar heals usually very well and is hidden. And then we dissect the skin off the back of the ear to allow access to the cartilage. We do this carefully and as we go and stop any bleeding. And then we carefully place stitches, to recreate usually the inner fold of the ear known as the antihelical fold. And then sometimes we place stitches between the cartilage of the ear and the back of the head behind the ear to pull it back into shape. And then finally, put in some dissolving stitches, at the back of the ear, and a simple dressing is applied. The beauty of doing it in the local anesthetic is that we can show the patient the the result as we're going. It can make any fine tuning as required.