I did a bilateral ear-stitch in december 2020 , and a revision in september 2021. Mr O Toole is excellent at communicating the risks and chances of success and amazing at creating a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. I feel he is a friend, and I felt at ease. So it is important to select someone that makes you feel that he is a "buddy". He has been extremely supportive and helpful in clarifying each of my questions. Ear stitch is the best procedure to go. It does not hurt, and the procedure lasted around 25' + 25' (main one) and then 15'+15 (revision). The only thing that hurts for 15 seconds is the local anaesthetic. Once this is done, then everything else goes on without any bit of pain. I felt great. I wore a headband and all good. Whether you need a revision or not depends on many factors and even if you have the best surgeon, this may still happen. But do not be afraid and go do the procedure. It is really such a simple procedure . It took me years to decide it, and it was so simple. also: avoid EarFold. Go for ear stitch. And go with Greg o Toole. If you need any further clarification, i am happy to answer any questions below.
I first went to see Mr Greg O' Toole in July 2016, with regard to a prominent right ear correction. Almost 3 months to the day later I had my earstitch procedure on 24/10/2016 and I can honestly say I would highly recommend both him and earstitch. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made, my only regret, that it wasn't available 20 years ago when I was a teenager! Since the age of 13, I first became hugely self conscious and increasingly aware that my right ear was much more prominent than my left. For the next 20 years it really, really bothered me, I covered that ear with my hair at all times, avoided photos and was desperate to have otoplasty. What may have seemed trivial to most hugely affected my confidence, already being self conscious of how I looked anyway, the ear was the one thing I could try to improve! However , being very squeamish and a wimp when it comes to pain the "old style" method and need for a GA horrified me. Quite by chance, I came across an article in a newspaper about the new pioneering earfold method, with Norbert Kang . I was instantly intrigued and fascinated and immediately searched this procedure online, doing a huge amount of reading and research having never heard of it before. The minimalistic approach with a rapid return to work etc really appealed to me so in May 2015 I tentatively emailed Mr O' Toole's team but at that stage was just too nervous and hesitant to take it any further. I spent the next year or so continuing to read countless patient reviews and thought it sounded everything I had ever hoped for and more.... I knew deep down I still desperately wanted this done and would always regret it if I never proceeded further, so in July I emailed again and booked my initial consultation, knowing that if I didn't do it now I never would. The hardest part for me and the biggest step to take was this initial consultation, I wondered "what was I thinking?!", I was so unsure, nervous and uncertain of what to expect, having never had any procedure or surgery before. On the day I was so nervous I could hardly speak! Mr O' Toole straight away put me at ease, was very welcoming, friendly and approachable, almost instantly my anxiety disappeared and although I felt embarrassed and reluctant to show him my ear, he understood it is a sensitive subject and nothing to be self conscious about. He carefully explained exactly what both earfold and earstitch involved, clearly stating what can and cannot be achieved by each method, and made it very clear the risks of possible post op complications, the expected recovery time, chances of recurrence and the cost. He also fully answered my questions then asked me what I would like my ear to look like, and got me to show him in a mirror, he listened to how I felt, valuing my opinion and expectations. I personally wasn't keen on the earfold , preferring instead the idea of the stitch method, to which Mr O' Toole agreed but said we could try on an earfold anyway just to see what result it would have for me, it overcorrected my ear confirming the stitch would work best. Mr O' Toole showed and talked me through a "touch surgery" computer generated simulation, which was absolutely brilliant in showing me exactly how this surgery works , this was extremely useful to me, helping me to understand the procedure fully to get a realistic idea of what it involved surgically. I walked out elated, impressed by everything I had heard and so glad that I went, any doubts I had earlier had faded away , and he had installed confidence in what he could offer- I knew now for certain this was a realistic option to me. I was advised to go and spend time thinking carefully about this decision, and a week later decided I definitely wanted to go ahead, so it was booked for October- it was available before that but I had to arrange time off work and had the options of the Royal Free Hospital , London or the Platinum Medical Centre, London , I eagerly anticipated the day and couldn't wait to get it done. On the day of surgery, Mr O' Toole again explained clearly and concisely what to expect. Everything went amazingly well, I was actually excited and it was far , far better than I ever imagined, I anticipated it to be a very painful, scary experience but in fact it was very pleasant and strangely enjoyable! This was largely thanks to the fact that during surgery Mr O' Toole remained calm, highly focussed yet still able to put you at ease, along with the fantastic operating theatre team at the Platinum Medical Centre, who very extremely kind, caring, friendly and reassured me hugely by explaining exactly what was happening and why,and what to expect at every step of the procedure, even making me smile! Without their expertise, professionalism and empathy I would have been very fearful and found the surgery far more daunting. All of the nursing staff also provided a wonderful degree of care, courtesy and kindness which again made the whole day so much easier and relaxed, at all times you felt so safe, well cared for and constantly reassured. I found the surgery itself a lot easier than I had expected, I thought I would be extremely nervous but it went really well, I went to the theatre at 11.40 and was back on the day care unit by 12.20, had my head bandage off a few hours later and was able to leave for home just before 3pm. During and after the procedure I felt no pain, I had prepared myself for weeks if not longer of awful pain!, the local anaesthetic I hardly felt, and there was no pain at all during the procedure, I was just aware of movements, and noises, I experienced what I would describe as throbbing and discomfort rather than pain for around 4 hours the evening of my surgery, it was bearable and 2 paracetomol soon sorted this , there was no further pain at all, by day 4 the swelling and bruising had virtually disappeared and it healed with no issues at all . I had a 3 day post op check up then the stitches were removed 3 weeks post op , which did hurt a little but nothing too bad. I am delighted and amazed at the improvement and difference, giving me a huge boost already and just being able to walk out the day of the surgery with my hair up for the first time in 20 years felt great!. Mr O' Toole is honest, realistic and makes sure you are fully aware of the chance of recurrence but he ensures you would feel happy and able to return to him which really puts your mind at ease. Right from my initial enquiry I have also found Mr O' Toole's secretary to be very helpful , polite and made sure it all went very smoothly, emails were replied to promptly, all of my questions were answered and I was kept fully up to date on appointments and all aspects of booking which has made it so easy and straightforward for me which was great! I don't think I knew what to expect but the whole experience has been a very positive one, and a pleasant surprise just how well it has gone so far, all of my initial fears and worries soon disappeared, I felt sure I had chosen the best surgeon, a very highly skilled, competent and experienced man who cares about the patient and their expectations first and foremost. I was overwhelmed and quite emotional by the amount of kindness, and excellent care I received throughout, I knew I had no reason to be worried and would especially recommend Mr O' Toole and his team if you are very nervous, self conscious or unsure as his gentle yet knowledgeable manner instantly puts you at ease. I am so thankful I saw that article in the paper by chance and found out all about it, I am glad I went for the earstitch option as I preferred this idea rather than earfold, but it is definitely worth comparing and considering both. I will be forever grateful and thankful to Mr O' Toole and his team for everything they have done for me , I am so impressed with the results so far, after having waited for so long for something I never thought was possible for me it means the world to me that it went so well and is a huge relief to have achieved this at long last!, I definitely made the right choice and without doubt one of the best decisions I have ever made. By choice I still wear a headband overnight and whenever I am not working with others as I feel this holds my ear back further, I do feel without the headband it would have moved out more by now, I am due a review this summer to see if there is any chance to further tighten this ear anymore as I do prefer the very flat look and would ideally like to ditch wearing a headband by day. Overall, I am still thrilled with the result, having literally loathed my ear for so many years I am so , so pleased I had this procedure. Updated on 28 Nov 2017: exactly one year to the day following my original earstitch procedure I had a revision done on 24/10/17. I went to the private patients unit , The Lyndhurst rooms at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, London for this, Once again , all went really well. I was only at the hospital for just over an hour and this was a very minor, quick and totally pain free procedure. Following the consultations in February and August of this year to discuss whether my right ear could be further pulled in tighter, and to remove the uppermost and lower most stitches which were very close to the skin surface during the revision I had some small pieces of skin removed to tighten the ear as I was hoping for a very flat look. I was very nervous and unsure whether to go back again as I was worried I was being too fussy and may lose the improvement I already had since the earstitch but it was bothering me the feeling that it was moving out especially at the top and bottom despite wearing a headband most of the time. Once again Mr O' Toole was very welcoming, polite, professional but friendly, I was very nervous but he put me at ease straight away and explained everything fully and got me again to show him in a mirror how I would hope my ear to look. He again listened to me and was open and honest with what he can or cant achieve, he explained the risks and outcomes clearly. I felt confident to talk openly and honesty about how I felt, the procedure itself did not take long at all, the local anaesthetic injections did sting a little this time where as they didn't the fist time, perhaps due to the previous scar but I had no pain or discomfort at all, Mr O' Toole chatted to me throughout which kept me calm and relaxed, I went home with a head bandage on as when I sat up I had a little bleeding, I kept this on through choice for 24 hours as it bled twice more that evening but stopped after a few minutes each time. I had minor soreness that evening, but didn't need to take any painkillers at all, there was a tiny amount of swelling and bruising but the first time much more so. This time as it was a much more superficial procedure you would hardly notice anything . I went back to work the next day and had no pain or problems, it all healed again fine and I had the stitches out at the Platinum medical centre just over 3 weeks later. I have by choice worn a headband 24/7 since the second procedure as I want to give it the very best chance of working and keeping it as flat as possible, I think this is more a mind over matter thing as I am now so used to wearing the headband which I of course dont want to for the rest of my life, but it is a confidence thing I am sure the ear would stay fairly flat without it but at the moment I am more comfortable wearing it, I hope to start to take it off even for short periods soon and get my confidence up , Mr O' Toole advised that after 3 months the headband wont make much difference anyway so I will try and take it off for short amounts of time at some point hopefully! I am definitely glad I went ahead with the second procedure, I was already thrilled with the improvement and this will hopefully achieve that final wish to tighten and flatten it further, I am once again exceptionally grateful to him for agreeing to do the revision, I again found him to be really kind, and I felt I can trust him. He hopes this is it now but has said I can return to him in future if I wanted to discuss anything I wasn't happy with, I didn't have to pay any fees to Mr O' Toole for the revision, I only had to pay £150 to the Royal Free for the use of their minor ops suite. The nurses there were lovely too. I am continually grateful for the huge improvement , happiness and confidence boost this has given me and I feel incredibly grateful to Mr O' Toole and his team for enabling this, again im very glad I went ahead and did it, the only regret I have is that It wasn't available 20 years ago when I was a teenager but I remain thankful I got the chance to have it done at all.
