Pointy Ear Correction

Q: Dr. Eppley, my ears are pointy. Can you reshape them and make them rounder? They don’t look as pointy from profile view and one ear looks sort of different from the other.  

A: Thank you for sending your ear pictures. While your ears are pointy they are not a classic Stahl’s ear deformity as there is no abnormal or third crus. Both the superior and inferior crus are present and in the correct locations although the superior crus is a bit wider or thicker. The ears appear primarily pointy because there appears to be a deficiency along the superior helical rim.

For your pointy ear correction you have several options:

1) Cartilage graft the helical rim defect to fill it out to the surrounding helical rim, which will keep the ear the same size.

2) Reduce the ‘high’ areas above and below the helical rim defect which will make the ear a bit smaller.

It is also possible that a combination of both (defect augmentation and supero-inferior reduction) may also be effective.

The graft source would be a conchal harvest from the sane ear as it has a curved shape that will work sufficiently for the helical rim. 

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana