Ear Surgery for Men

Otoplasty is a common surgery for correcting protruding ears.  This is performed at the preschool age but many adults who did not have surgery, desire to change and correct their protruding ears as adults.

What causes protruding ears?

Protruding ears affecting 5% of the population are most often hereditary. There are two main causes of protruding ears.  One is cartilage excess and the other is the lack of the antihelical fold.  This is all explained on the main otoplasty page in this site.  It is of utmost importance to correct the true cause of the protrusion.  If there is actual cartilage excess, then reduction of the cartilage is required.  Failure to address this can cause relapse or return to the original position.  Unfortunately some surgeons do not understand this and attempt to correct cartilage excess with suture techniques.

Can adults have otoplasty?

Yes, about 40% of our patients that undergo otoplasty are adults.  There is no age limit on the ability to correct protruding ears.

How is otoplasty performed?

Otoplasty is performed in our outpatient surgery center with IV anesthesia and takes 1-2 hours.

What is the recovery for otoplasty?

The average recovery period is 1-2 weeks although many adults return to work after a week.


The following pictures are a sampling of the hundreds of ear surgeries Dr. Niamtu has performed.  Please visit our otoplasty gallery to view many more cases.

Before and after Otoplasty correcting protruding earsBefore and after Otoplasty correcting protruding earsBefore and after Otoplasty correcting protruding ears
Before and after Otoplasty correcting protruding earsBefore and after Otoplasty correcting protruding earsBefore and after Otoplasty correcting protruding ears