Will You Use My Own Cartilage For An Otoplasty Reversal?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I have attaches photos, showing how my ears look now and how I hope they can look. As this is only a small procedure I only have a few questions.

My questions are:

How will you perform the procedure? Will you use my own cartilage or some other material to push the outer ear out?
I am looking to extend the outer ear to be a few millimetres past my ear fold. Ideally the outer ear is visible all the way down my ear. Are you able to control how far this outer ear will protrude?

A: In answer to your otoplasty reversal questions:

1) The procedure is done through an incision on the back of your ears, most likely your original otoplasty incision based on where it is located.

2) Usually cadaveric coastal cartilage is used as an interpositonal graft to hold the ear out once it is released. Most patients do not want to have their one rib cartilage harvested although that can be done.

3) The amount that the ear can be brought back out is highly dependent ion how much graft is put behind it to hold it out. What you are demonstrating is the typical location of the release (middle third of they ear) and with the objective of having it visible beyond that of the antihelical fold in front of int.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana