What is the recovery time for an otoplasty? When will it be completely healed?

There are various phases during the recovery process of a well executed otoplasty performed by a surgeon with expertise in ear reshaping:


First 24 hours- Patient wears a mild compressive garment on the head.  Patient ear appear larger and more swollen than ideal

24 to 72 hours- Patient wears headband over ears as much as possible.  Majority of swelling begins to dissipate

72 hours to First Week- Some patients will be able to return to work depending on their hairstyle and comfort with swelling in ear and duties at work

First Week to Second Week- Most patients feel comfortable in social situations with ears

Three Months-Swelling Completely subsided

Otoplasty is performed in the outpatient setting and many otoplasty operations can be performed under local anesthesia. Although, some patient may prefer IV sedation. Pain is mild. Some patients take prescription pain medicine for 2 or 3 days postop.  A head wrap is placed during the procedure and is worn for two days in order to protect the ears. Sutures are removed in about one week. Almost all patients are able to return to work, school and social activity in about one week (and in many cases sooner) after the otoplasty surgery. Full physical activity may be resumed at one month.

Dear Realself user,I perform my operation under  general anesthesia with children under the age of 10. With patients above the age of 10 I use a local anesthesia. After the surgery you can go back to your daily routine within 3 days because you will wear a headband for those 3 days. It is very normal that you will experience swellingness around your ears for about 2 weeks.Best regards.
TAS Aesthetic Surgery Clinic

In most practices there will be a light compression dressing for 1-2 days following the surgery. After the removal of this dressing some topical wound care will be involved with mild-moderate degree of discomfort at the surgical sites. Obviously pain threshold varies from a patient to another, but many patients do not need to take narcotics for pain management. As such, most patient are able to resume routine activities and work if not physically demanding by post operative day 3. At this point there is still moderate degree of swelling of the ears, a phenomenon that mostly subsides by the end of the week. From this point and on there will be minimal changes to the appearance and shape of the ear except some scar maturation and healing of the wound in the back of the ear, a process that slowly matures in the next 2-3 months with application of scar optimizing creams.

Otoplasty is usually done under local anaesthetic (except in young children). Sedation can be added to help with any anxiety. The incision is hidden behind the ear and skin is closed with dissolvable stitches. A bandage is usually placed at surgery to dress the wound and it taken of the next day.
In the first few days there will be some swelling but there is rarely any bruising on the front of the ear with the stitch technique. Although the ear is swollen it will still have a normal shape.
Most daily activities can be performed the day after surgery. Strenuous activity should be avoided for 2 weeks. For adults I recommend a few days off work but many patients can return to an office job within 1-2 days. For children it is recommended to take a week off school. It is advisable to wear a head band at night for 4-6 weeks and during team sport activities such as football.
After 1 week the majority of the swelling would have subsided. It is important to note that there will be persistent tenderness for several weeks after otoplasty as the ears are very sensitive.

Otoplasty recovery time is relatively quick.  After correction has been achieved, a compressive head dressing is applied which encompasses the ears.  The patient is discharged to home the same day as the procedure.  The following day, the dressing is removed in the office.  All patients are instructed ahead of time to bring an athletic headband in for this first appt.  The headband is worn with it covering the ears (not behind the ears) all the time except for when bathing for the first week postop.  During this first week the ears have swelling in the skin which is noticeable.  At the end of the first week, the headband is only worn at night, and at this point swelling is minimal.  Postoperative pain is little if any, because the surgery is performed on cartilage (which has no nerve endings) and skin.
Hope you found this answer helpful.  All the best!