Otoplasty and ear surgery in Turkey

Otoplasty, usually called ear surgery or ear pinning, reshapes ears that stick out or are asymmetric by reworking the cartilage and setting the ear closer to the head. It is one of the few cosmetic operations commonly performed on children, and the age question matters more here than on any other page in aesthetic surgery.

This page covers what the operation changes, the right age for it, whether it can be funded at home, what drives the price in Turkey, and what recovery with a headband actually involves. It also covers the non-surgical alternatives, which are genuinely useful in babies and useless in adults.

This is the part that deserves the most care, because the patient is often a child who is not the one asking for the operation.

• Ear cartilage is close to adult size early. That is why surgeons will consider otoplasty from around school age rather than waiting for full growth.
• Before school, non-surgical moulding can work. In the first weeks of life, splinting can reshape cartilage without surgery. It stops working as the cartilage stiffens.
• The child should want it. A child old enough to understand and to say they want it co-operates with the headband and the aftercare. One who does not, will not.
• Adults do well too. There is no upper age limit, and adult cartilage is stiffer, which changes the technique rather than the outcome.

1. 1

   Anaesthetic

   Children are usually asleep under general anaesthetic. Adults are often done under local anaesthetic with sedation, which shortens the day considerably.
2. 2

   The incision

   Almost always behind the ear, in the crease, so the scar is hidden. A small amount of skin is removed and the cartilage is exposed.
3. 3

   Reshaping the cartilage

   Permanent stitches create the fold that is missing, and the cartilage may be scored or thinned so it bends without springing back. This is where technique varies most.
4. 4

   Setting the position

   The ear is checked against the other side from in front and from above, not just from behind, before closing.
5. 5

   Dressing

   A bulky head dressing goes on and stays for some days, then a headband takes over, especially at night.

• Throbbing and pressure. Normal for the first days, and worse under the head dressing.
• Numbness. Very common early on and usually temporary.
• Itching under the dressing. Uncomfortable and hard to explain to a child, but expected.
• Sensitivity to cold. The ear can stay unusually cold-sensitive for months.
• Stitch problems. Permanent stitches can occasionally poke through or become inflamed and need removing.
• Partial recurrence. One ear drifting back out is the commonest reason for a second, smaller operation.

• Ear moulding in newborns. Genuinely effective in the first weeks of life, while cartilage is still soft from maternal hormones. The window is short.
• Incisionless otoplasty. Stitches placed through tiny punctures without opening the skin. It suits some ear shapes and not others, and recurrence rates differ. Ask why it is being proposed for your ear specifically.
• Ear splints and tapes in older children. Not effective once the cartilage has stiffened, whatever is claimed online.
• Hair and styling. Not a treatment, but worth saying: many people manage prominent ears without surgery for their whole lives, and choosing not to operate on a child is a legitimate decision.

A good otoplasty leaves ears that sit naturally against the head with the normal folds preserved, and it should not be obvious that anything was done. The two failures to look for in photographs are over-correction, where the ear is flattened against the skull, and a sharp unnatural ridge along the new fold. The result is settled at around a year.