Extreme Otoplasty - How Close Can Ears Be Placed to my Head?

Extreme otoplasty: Be careful what you ask for! Results may be irreversible! Individuals request body modification rather routinely. Your ears can even be attached to the posterior scalp, however, it is not adviseable and would likely create some difficult hygiene problems. My advice is to discuss a REASONABLE and not and extreme result with your surgeon and then make a decision.

Yes, Otoplasty can bring the ears very close to the head, depending on what you and your surgeon decide together. Mustarde and Furnas techniques are the standard procedures used to achieve good Otoplasty results. The ears will look more natural however if they are ~ 1 cm off the side of the head.

Otoplasty for protruding ears is a procedure typically performed on children, but can also be done in adults with excellent aesthetic results.  The goal of this surgery is to provide a natural appearing result to make the ears less noticeable.  Ears that have a "pinned on" appearance or "stuck to the side of the head", do not always appear natural.  It should be noted, that your ears will initially looked stuck to the side of the head after surgery.  There is eventually a slight loss of correction to provide a more unoperated appearance.  Consult an experienced otoplasty surgeon for best results.

The usual angle of the ear pinna to the head is about 20 degrees.  

The position can be closer if desired and some surgeon do this as depending on the otoplasty technique the ears may drift forward from the immediate post operative position.  

Also, the ears may appear closer to the head immediately after the otoplasty dressing is removed as the ears were held tight to the head by the compressive head dressing.

The inward positioning of the ears during otoplasty is done by a variety of manuevers including different types of sutures and cartilage weakening or removal. How far the ears are moved inward can be varied anywhere from where they were to start with to being completely flat against the side of the head. Being 'plastered' up against the side of the head is unnatural. One wants to make the angle between the ear and the side of head at least 10 to 15 degrees. From a front view, the outer helix of the ear should be seen above that of the tragus protrusion. Be careful about requesting having your ears moved too close to the side of your head...there is no good way to 'unpin' the ears once moved in too far.