Major Swelling After Dog Ear Repair Surgery? (photo)

Dear Melanie:

Hard to tell from California. The swelling could be normal or it could be a problem. A certain amount of swelling is to be expected four days after surgery; howwever, increasing swelling associated with increasing pain is not normal at four days. The best thing to do is to call for plastic surgeon and let them check you. If it is normal, you will be reassured. If it is a problem, treatment can be started today. Good luck.

Hello and thanks for your post. It is very common to have a "dog ear" treated in the office under local anesthesia in the exact same manner your surgeon did it. However, the painful swelling could represent a few problems that you should make your surgeon aware. Best wishes, Dr. Aldo.

It will take several weeks for the majority of swelling to dissipate. The scarring process will take several months,  and even up to one year, to mature.   During this process, the look and feel of the scars will improve. Therefore, probably no reason to be “concerned”.

 Continue to follow-up with your plastic surgeon. Hopefully you will be pleased with the long-term outcome of the procedure performed.

Best wishes.

Hi - from your photos, it does appear that you have quite a bit of swelling. Did your surgeon advise that you wear a binder or any compression garments after this revision? That may help with some of the swelling, even if you only wear them while you are sleeping. Think back to how swollen you were after your original surgery and how the incision probably appeared somewhat "lumpy" and irregular - you are pretty fresh out from this recent surgery, so give it some time to settle down, and take it easy in terms of your activities - your body still has a pretty large area to heal, so don't underestimate your body's need for some "down time" to heal properly. Best of luck!

Although a bit of swelling and bruising are typical after any surgery, increased pain, swelling, bruising after surgery could indicate a hematoma.  Have your PS check it out.

Your photos do not show any unusual amount of swelling.  There can be lumps and bumps following the scar revision because there has to be some "cheating" to minimize the length of scar to achieve correction of the dog ear.  I expect that your incision will continue to improve along with the swelling.