Could Ears Change Shape From Wearing Headset?

Thanks for the question. 85% of the ear development is completed at the age of 3 and 93% at the age of 10. Because of that, this process can be carried out in the preschool period without the child having a social trauma. I wish you all the best.

It is highly unlikely that your ears have permanently changed in shape or position at your age. If you stop wearing your headset, your ears should return to their regular position. Allow a day or so for this to happen.

Headsets that move your ears closer to your head will not cause a permanent change in the shape of your ears' cartilage. Your ears will return to normal shape within 24 hours. Thank you. Dr Joseph

While anything is possible, it would be extremely unlikely that wearing any sort of headset as a teenager would affect the shape or position of the ears. It is more likely that asymmetries are simply being noticed now that weren't noticed before. In young infants, the ears can be molded or shaped with long-lasting results, but these tissues are soft and pliable. In older children and adults, we know that the ears cannot be easily reshaped without surgical intervention.
Best,

Thanks for this interesting question.  Once you are out of infancy, your ear shape is pretty much permanent.  Only in the first weeks of life can the ear be molded.  When you take your headphones off, you should notice that the ears return to a stable position.  You have likely been wearing them so much that you have not really noticed their baseline shape!   Also, the headphones should be applying equal pressure to both sides, so this could not explain the more prominence that you notice on the left.

The adult ear has a shape that will yield temporarily to pressure but will return to the original shape when the pressure is relieved.  It will not reshape permanently.

Nobody has studied the effect of 10 hours of headset use between ages 13-16 on ear projection.  So short answer, yes, anything is possible.
The classic teaching is that cartilage becomes  much less malleable after infancy when maternal hormones contribute to cartilage pliability.  So according to the textbook, by age 16, external molding such as what you describe should not be able to effect ear projection.
But what do you lose if you try to prove the textbooks wrong?  In fact, this could even be worth publishing in a medical journal.  If you take measurements and pictures of your current ears, and switch to ear-bud style headphones for the next 3 years...and see what happens?
Best of luck along your journey.

Dear Naldu


I don't think that there is evidence that your ears can be permanently reshaped by wearing headphones at your age. 

In a small infant, the ear cartilages can be molded ,but the ears mature and this is less successful as we get older. 

If you have asymmetry and it bothers you, your parents and you can attend a consult for Otoplasty with a surgeon to get an opinion. 

Best Wishes