How Can I Make My Ears Stick Out Further By Otoplasty Surgery?

Q: Dr. Eppley, What method will be used to make them permanently protrude?

How close will it be to the picture?

Is there anyway we can replicate what’s in the picture?

If I use filler afterwards to increase the protrusion to match the picture, will it eventually be remodeled to match that protrusion?

A: When you are trying to change the natural shape of a facial structure by surgery there is no exact predictability as to how the tissues will respond. What the imaged pictures do is set the goal which will influence how the surgery is done.

In creating increased protrusion of the ear the antihelical fold must be released from behind and a cartilage graft placed to act as a buttress to hold it out. (cadaveric cartilage graft) But the exact outcome can not be exactly predicted beforehand. You push the ears out as far as they will allow to be released and out the largest graft possible and hope that the final result will be close to the goal picture.

Injectable fillers create temporary effects, they do not turn into tissue or create a permanent effect. The material will eventually be absorbed and the effect will be lost.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon