I'm thinking of otoplasty but I fear it may go wrong and my ears will look worse. What happens if it does go wrong? (photo)

Your  best chances of having a good result  is to do your homework prior to the surgery . You MUST consult a board certified plastic surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Interview two PS  Among the surgeries done by PS, an otoplasty is a very routine operation with very few risks.

Permanent, unnatural changes on the ear are only possible if a traditional surgical method was used and too much cartilage was removed (sharp edges, indentations along the antihelix fold). These changes do not occur if protruding ears are pinned with the minimally invasive stitch method, as there is no working of cartilage with this method.

Thanksyour ear deformity is obvious !the most worrying complication of Otoplasty is pinnahaematoma leading to colliflower ear ( 0% sofar in my hands) the risk of delayed failure or recurrence of deforms is small but recteyable bwMr J TaheryConsultant ENT/Facial Plastic SurgeonChester

 When performing otoplasty, look for a surgeon who has lots of before-and-after  photographs for best results.  The Otoplasty procedure can be performed under local anesthesia as an outpatient surgical procedure

All depends on which technique is used and the skill of the surgeon.  Different techniques are more reversible than others (some are completely irreversible).  If the surgeon is skilled enough, then it should not matter as much what technique is used since they will be able to solve any problems that may arise.  However, even a skilled surgeon will struggle to fix/reverse problems after procedures involving removal/cutting of the cartilage.  The flip side of this is that procedures which are more reversible (generally involving the use of sutures only) also have a greater risk of recurrence of the original prominence.  So, it all depends.....