Can Otoplasty Be Performed on a 10-Year-Old Child?

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.

Thank you for your question. Absolutely, your
child’s ear has developed sufficiently at this point to accommodate a surgical
procedure such as otoplasty to recontour her ears and make them less prominent.
As others have mentioned, the surgery can be performed on children aged 4 and
older. For younger children, the procedure is actually performed under general
anesthesia in an ambulatory surgical center as they would be unable to tolerate
an office-based intervention under local anesthesia, and would need additional
monitoring with oral sedation that often times cannot be provided in the office
setting. A consultation with an expert in facial plastic surgery will allow for
a proper assessment of your child’s individual needs.

An Otoplasty can definitely be performed on a 10 year old child.  The lower limit is about 6 years of age and the procedure is commonly done on children.  Often times the procedure can be done before the child starts school to avoid teasing, but it is OK to wait and discuss it with your child as well to make sure it is something he or she wants.  Having it performed under general anesthesia is best to avoid the child waking up or moving during the procedure.  Be sure to see a board certified plastic or facial plastic surgeon who performs a lot of these procedures.

Otoplasty (ear surgery) sometimes referred to as ear pinning, is one of the few cosmetic plastic surgery procedure performed on children. The rationale is that the ear reaches nearly adult size at an early age, and early intervention reduces the appearance of prominent before school age teasing occurs.

There are two peaks in the age of intervention. The first is around age 5 to 6, and the second is in early adulthood. The timing depends on social situations and physical characteristics. Whatever the age, it is important that the appearance of the ears bothers the recipient of the surgery, and that they understand what is being done and why. 

Most surgeons would recommend that otoplasty (surgical correction of prominent ears) be done prior to elementary school age (3-5). It can be done anytime after that age as well, but as the child gets older, the ear cartilage become stiffer and the recurrence rate increases. Also, he/she is more likely to get teased at school at an older age.

As an aside, there is a new non surgical method of prominent ear correction, but in order to be successful it must be implemented before the child id 6 weeks of age. It can be 90% effective if it's started at 3 weeks or earlier. This option can avoid surgery all together and is called the EarWell system.

Good luck.

In fact, unless it has just started to bother your daughter, otoplasty could have been done before she started grade school and suffered teasing by classmates. But at 10, if she is eager and motivated to proceed with corrective otoplasty, she may be a candidate for local anesthesia (which usually isn't possible for the 5-6 year-old).

I routinely do these under local anesthesia for this age group and allow them to select the operating room music and talk or ask questions during the operation! Most do just great and are proud they did the surgery that way!

Night-time head band, hair band, or sweat band (for guys) protected by a slick shower cap, rain bonnet, or hair roller cap to keep the band in place during natural head movements during sleep keeps the ears is their proper position as things heal durably. During the day no band or anything is required, so the child looks absolutely normal when around others! The band at night is worn for a month; sutures are out in a week to 10 days, and problems or complications are quite rare.

Go for it, and good luck!

Many children with prominent ears have an otoplasty around age 5-6 due to fact that it is at that age when they become more social and their peers may start to make fun of them. It is safe to perform an otoplasty as young as 5 years old, and in fact, there have been studies to show that it appears safe to perform as young as age 2.

I personally like to wait until age 5 or older.

Andrew C. Campbell, M.D.

Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon
 

Otoplasty can definitely be done on a 10 year old and as early as 5 or 6.  It is important that your child follows the post-operative instructions to avoid injury or complications, thus 10 is a good age.

Otoplasty, or corrective surgery for prominent ears, can be done at any age after five years. By age five, the ear cartilages have grown to nearly adult size, and become resilient enough to support corrective surgery. Age 10 is a perfect time for a child to have Otoplasty. At this age they will tolerate post operative discomfort and comply with care associated with it.

Yes, an otoplasty can certainly be done on a 10 year old. Otoplasty can be done of children as young as 5 or 6, but in many ways waiting until your child is a little bit older is not unreasonable as she is able to more easily take part in the recovery process.