Otoplasty: How Can I Tell if my Sutures Are Permanent or Dissolvable?

Whether your ears rebound back out a little has nothing to do with what type of sutures were used for the cartilage shaping/manipulation done internally. When an otoplasty dressing comes off, the ears will usually look like they are back too far. This is mainly the effect of the compression of the dressing. Between swelling going down and the skin behind the ear relaxing a little bit, the  ears will not likely stay that way and will come out further from the side of the head. It will take six weeks before you should critique them and three months for a final analysis. As an aside, the sutures used to change the shape of the cartilage can be either dissolveable or permanent. That is a surgeon's preference. Most surgeon's prefer permanent as a good resistance to the spring of cartilage is needed long enough to let scar tissue and cartilage deformation create the final result.

The simplest way to determine this answer is to ask your surgeon. I use permanent sutures for the cartilage support and absorbable for the skin. Be patient. Don't look critically at results of any surgical procedure for at least 6-8 weeks. Some relaxing will occur for up to a year. Your bandages were probably pressing your ears to your head and they will relax some now that they are off. Follow up as directed by your surgeon and again, be patient.