Ear pinning in Bern

Children with protruding ears are often victims of taunting and teasing. Many children affected suffer considerably as a result of these disparaging comments – an experience that can also impact on their later lives. However, surgical ear pinning (also known as otoplasty) provides a lasting solution to this beauty flaw.

Ear correction procedures can be performed on adults and children alike. However, for the sake of the affected child’s well-being, it’s best to have their ears pinned before they start school if at all possible. Otoplasty is now a routine procedure in aesthetic surgery and, generally speaking, is a low-risk procedure.

How does otoplasty work?

Protruding ears usually develop as a result of deformed cartilage tissue. While this deformed tissue doesn’t impact on the person’s ability to hear, their ears do stick out further than usual. Furthermore, the main fold in the ear muscle of people with ‘jug ears’ is often not as pronounced as it should be. As a result, their ears don’t lie as close to their head as other peoples’ do.

The aim of ear pinning is to correct this deformity by operative means. To do so, Dr Kiermeir remodels the deformed cartilage and removes any excess tissues. He then performs the actual ear correction by suturing the ear muscle more closely to the head. At present, ear pinning is the only form of ear correction that remedies protruding ears with lasting results.

The ear pinning procedure

Ear pinning is a relatively straightforward procedure that lasts around 1–2 hours in total. Here in Bern, we usually perform the treatment under local anaesthetic. In some cases involving children, it may be sensible to perform the treatment under general anaesthetic. Dr Kiermeir will answer any queries you might have about anaesthesia and the procedure itself in a personal consultation held in Bern prior to the surgery.

In surgical ear correction, the first stage is to expose the cartilage on the back of the ear muscle. Dr Kiermeir then shapes this cartilage tissue as required, removing any excess cartilage in doing so. In the final treatment step, he fixes the muscle in its final position using a small number of sutures. The surgical wound is also sutured and a bandage applied.

Following ear correction surgery, patients can usually leave our clinic in Bern the same day. A short inpatient stay is only necessary if the ear pinning procedure is performed under general anaesthetic. Patients need to protect their ears in the days following the operation by wearing a head dressing to ensure that the wounds heal properly. The sutures are removed after around 10 days, at which point the patient is fully presentable again.