My lovely 6 yo daughter has, unfortunately, inherited her ears from her grandfather. Instead of lying mostly flat against her head, they protrude out at about a 45 degree angle. As of now she has never said anything about them, but it is possible that when she is older she and/or her classmates may start to notice them. So I was just wondering what are the options for plastic surgery for something like this, how feasible, difficult, painful, etc? And most importantly, would plastic surgery be age-sensitive in any way? I am not in any particular hurry if we were to do something, unless there is a specific reason to do it when she is still young.
Advice appreciated.
And before people start flaming me for creating body image issues in my daughter, please let me add that I have never once mentioned anything about my daughter’s ears to her, and have not even raised this with my wife. I just want to know what the options are should the issue arise.
Speak with the pediatrician, they’re your best resource for this information. I know this kind of surgery is considered routine and I understand it is age sensitive (I think your daughter would be considered too young at 6), but IANAPediatrician or any other kind of medical professional.
Link to a review on the different procedures available, their history, etc. Lots of big words! Most of the “contraindications” section is dedicated to “best to do it only if it bothers the patients themselves, it shouldn’t be done only because the parents ask for it” and “if done too young it’s likely to require a repeat”.
IANAD, but I did have a childhood friend who had a pretty severe case of the Dumbo ears. If memory serves, he had his ears pinned back when he was either your daughter’s age or slightly older (this was in the first few years of the millenium), and while there was some swelling and pain for a few weeks, it was a completely routine surgery. He’s in his early 20s now, and you wouldn’t know he’s had them pinned back unless someone told you.
I also don’t think anyone can rightfully and sanely blame you for being worried about this - kids can be notoriously vile little turds, and if your daughter genuinely does have her ears essentially orthogonal to the surface of her head, it’s mostly likely a question of when, not if her peers harass her about it, and I think looking into what options you have without trying to force her into anything is the best you can possibly do as a responsible, realistic parent.
Unless your daughter intends to keep her hair in a chili-bowl cut her entire life, it probably won’t be as noticeable on her. I think you are overreacting.
It’s a common problem in people who are part elf. Kids can look that way but as adults their ears will seem normal. But if not it’s pretty basic surgery. If it’s an issue when she’s a teenager she’ll probably bring it up herself. Since she’ll probably poke about 60 holes in her ear lobes anyway it’s not really a big deal.
a) She may grow out of it. You should see pictures of me at ages up to say 10; classic jug-handle Dumbo ears.
b) Unless there is serious disfigurement I think you may have a hard time finding a really skilled surgeon for someone that young. Yeah, I am sure there are scalpel-mills who would be willing but what quality expectations would you find? Like other posters have said, start with you doctor and research it more from there.
There was a girl in my class in high school who had her ears pinned back, some time during our junior or senior year. I don’t remember her missing too much school because of the procedure. I was actually surprised that she’d had it done…I knew her ears were kinda sticky-outy but so were all her siblings’ and they didn’t look that bad as she aged.
I would say it made a ton of difference in her life and now she’s married and has 3 kids but she happens to be married to the same guy she was with since 8th grade, well before the surgery
I have sticky-out ears – they’re not to the extent of Spock or major elf, but I do wish my parents had fixed them when I was young. I’ve never been teased (at least to my face), but glasses don’t fit right and I think I’d be just a bit cuter with the fix.
My grandma taped my ears back with Scotch tape when I was a wee bairn – it didn’t take :rolleyes:
In my opinion, unless there’s a major deformity involved, it’s best to leave children’s looks alone until they are old enough to make decisions about body enhancements on their own. It’s the child’s body after all, not yours, and they haven’t even grown into it yet.
My gf recently participated in a walk to raise money for a local children’s hospital. The FaceBook post included a picture of a cute little boy with big ears, I assumed it was a stock “cute kid” photo.
Of course, I made a comment about sponsoring her with a big pledge, “if only so that the kid can get his ears fixed”. Others laughed along.
Someone eventually commented that the kid was a real-life a cancer survivor. Me and my big mouth.
Odds are she’ll likely grow out of it. Even if she doesn’t, let her figure it out for herself. She’ll be plenty self-conscious about them without her parents “helping.” Her body should be her own concern.
My mother started telling me at age eight that “if you want, I’ll pay for you to get plastic surgery to fix your ears!” which stuck out at the time. I hadn’t thought they were strange up until my mom started talking about it, and as a kid all I heard was “you’re ugly–you need surgery to be cute.” It’s been over twenty years and it still rankles–yes, even the comments of “why don’t you just wear your hair in front of your ears?” Kids are smart. They pick up on that stuff.
