When Ears Look Really Good, No One Ever Notices

Some people spend a lifetime feeling self-conscious about the shape of their ears – that doesn’t have to be you. Your ears are not what people should see first when they look at you, and they should never distract people from looking into your eyes.

Ears are made of cartilage, which has a series of folds. These folds give ears their ultimate shape and establish where they sit in relation to the skull. How this cartilage forms during birth determines whether the ear will sit upright, fold over, or “stick out.” The earlobe is the only area that does not have a cartilaginous structure. However, it’s the part of the ear that’s most frequently altered with either piercings or gauges. These can cause deformity from either tearing the earlobe or stretching it out too much.

If your ears make you feel self-conscious, we can work together to find a solution. At Facial Plastic Surgery of Central Texas, Dr. Charles Guy and his team specialize in cosmetic services from the collarbone upward. Located in Waco, TX, our medical team treats patients across central Texas. Through ear plastic surgery and rejuvenation, we can help you stop seeing your ears every time you look in the mirror and begin to feel more confident about the way you look.

As the ear develops, it may become more prominent, fold forward, or evolve into other variations that look or feel abnormal to the patient. Cosmetic ear plastic surgery changes the shape, position, or size of the ears to improve symmetry and better suit the individual.

Also known as ear pinning, otoplasty is an umbrella term for the surgical and non-surgical methods used to correct deformities in the external part of the ear. This procedure is often requested by adults but may be performed on children as young as five years old.

The earlobe shapes the lower third of the ear, and it can look quite different from one patient to the next. While one person’s earlobes are attached to their neck at the base, another person may have earlobes that hang freely and at a distance from their neck. They can appear prominent with multiple folds, or they can be very minimal. Torn earlobe repair surgery is performed to correct oversized holes or split earlobes. This could be due to any of the following:

• Wearing heavy earrings
• Sudden, damaging jewelry removal
• Trauma

This type of ear plastic surgery can restore the earlobe to its natural state or create a more optimized aesthetic.

Ear gauging (or ear stretching) is when a piercing in the earlobe is progressively dilated by jewelry that is much thicker than a standard earring. Also known as tunnels, caps, cogs, and plugs, ear gauges vary in width, ranging from the diameter of a straw to that of a quarter. The result is a hole in the earlobe that’s too large to heal naturally. Reconstructive gauge earlobe repair surgery can help restore the ear’s shape and minimize or eliminate the damage caused by this type of piercing.