Non-surgical ear pinning

[The False Prophet]

Just a fairly straightforward question. I know that there is a minor surgical process called osteoplasty that removes a small amount of cartilage to make your ears sit flatter against your head.

I have heard apocryphically about a similar result being had by basically "taping" ones ears back when sleeping, so that in time they sit flatter.

Is this just nonsense, or is there some truth to it?

Right now I just wear my hair long to conceal them. This state of affairs cannot persist forever. I am seriously contemplating taking up a contact sport to batter them into submission.

[Journeyman]

FP,

A friend of mine has a young child with quite protruberant ears (or "bat ears", as he calls them). He obtained some ear splints - flexible wire splints covered in a silicon coating - that he places inside the rims of his son's ears every night. Part of the splint is then taped back against his son's head to assist his ears to sit back.

This approach apparently works quite well with young kids - I have heard (apocryphally) that it has about an 80% success rate. However, I think that it works best with children as their cartilage is still very soft. I don't know how well it would work with adults.

Otoplasty sounds like quite a straightforward procedure - I think that it only requires day surgery, although you will have to go under general anaesthetic.

If it's any consolation, a friend of mine from high school has ears that stick out quite a bit - his nickname at school was "wingnut". However, he has the highest success rate with stunningly attractive women of any man I know - sure his ears stick out a bit (and he's starting to go bald), but he makes up for it with charm, wit, and a breathtaking confidence when it comes to approaching gorgeous women.

Cheers,
JH

[Lucky Strike]

As said above, I don't think the taping/pinning thing works for adults.

The whole family on my father's side have protruding ears. My sister had the surgery; it was a minor thing, done in an hour or so. I think the basic principle of the surgery is just to create a shallow sore on the ears' backsides, and corresponding sores on the scalp, and then the ears are just taped down to stick to the scalp while they're healing.

[chobochobo]

nonsurgical method only works in the first few weeks of life when maternal oestrogens are still circulating in the baby's blood and the cartilage is still malleable. It takes a few months with regular adjustments.

for adults, surgery is the only way.

[Opcn]

Nonsurgical methods should work through the whole of the growth of the child, just like an iron mask can be used to form the bones the cartillage will grow in to what ever shape it has access to.

Cartillage gets softer and more maliable with heat so if you are going to try it do it right after you get out of a sauna if you think that you still want to try it despite the low probability of success.

[lee lin]

if the tape is not that visible couldn't you just wear the tape when you go out? i've seen east asian women use tape and glue on their eyelids. then when you've snagged a hottie stop wearing the tape!

[The False Prophet]

Goddamn, looks like I am stuck with long hair for the remainder of my natural life! Oh well, there are worse things...

(My aversion to surgery is quite serious, and best not gone into here. Suffice to say, I don't think it's an option).

[Young Scrappy]

Man up and have the surgery. You won't regret it.

[chobochobo]

I repeat, nonsurgical methods do not work unless you were born yesterday, literally

[chorse123]

Originally Posted by Young Scrappy

Man up and have the surgery. You won't regret it.

Unless you die. Isn't it something like one every quarter million undergoing general anesthesia dies? That would be like 10 commercial airline passengers in the U.S. dying every single day. Needless to say, I'm a firm believer in avoiding unnecessary elective surgery.

[Young Scrappy]

Use local anesthesia

[The False Prophet]

My reasons stem from personal experience, and I am really disinclined to any kind of elective surgery. Anyway, that's really beside the point and I'm not keen to discuss it.

I have reflected on it, and the situation is hardly dire. What I would really like would be to flatten the way the upper third or so of the ear sits. That would give the impression of the whole being much less prominent. The problem is not that my ears are ridiculously prominent, but they sit a bit higher, and a bit less flat, than the norm, and it just throws the balance of my whole head out. The actual part that you hear with (terminology escapes me) is not so bad.

I wonder if I will have more luck working with only this small part, with thinner cartilage.

[sniff]

How on earth do you create a shallow sore??

[TintinATL]

Originally Posted by chorse123

Unless you die. Isn't it something like one every quarter million undergoing general anesthesia dies? That would be like 10 commercial airline passengers in the U.S. dying every single day. Needless to say, I'm a firm believer in avoiding unnecessary elective surgery.

I had the surgery in my early 20s. It was done under local anesthetic, not general, so I don't think there was much risk.

The procedure was as described above. Basically, it creates an open wound on the back of the ear, and a corresponding wound on the scalp; the two wounds are pressed together and as they heal, they fuse. I believe the cartilage in the ear was also cut or scored to facilitate the ear bending at the correct place..

IIRC, it took about 20 minutes in theater. It was rather painful for several days once the anesthesia wore off, but manageable with tylenol. The real downside was, I had to wear a bandage around my head for a week to hold the ears in place while they fused with the scalp. That meant (a) I looked ridiculous and could not really go out in public (b) could not wash my hair or really take a shower (c) it itched like crazy. I resorted to sticking a knitting needle or a ruler up inside the bandage to ease the itching. Once the bandages were removed, my ears were swollen for several weeks so it took a while until the results could be judged.

The results were satisfactory. One ear still protrudes slightly more than the other, but my partner says I'm the only one who can tell. I have less sensation (to touch, not sound) in one ear, which I assume is because a nerve got damaged.

I'm very glad I did it. I wish my parents had had it done when I was a child, as I was acutely embarrassed by my ears as a adolescent. But cosmetic surgery was just not something "one" thought of in those days. Fixing it did a lot to help my self-esteem. Plus it allows me to wear my hair short, which is my preference.

[Violinist]

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