27 Years Old with Protruding Ears. Greenwich, CT

Everything is going better then expected, best thing ive ever done in my life. I'm aware my ears still aren't perfect, but I've always felt that the large protruding ears gave everyone that I've ever seen with them, including myself, a very goofy, immature look. Which thankfully I no longer have to worry about that.

Anyways, still a little bruised and swollen, but as the days go on, I feel them getting better. I still wear the headband to bed, and sleep on my back, but I've woken up numerous times on my side with my headband mysteriously underneath my body lol, no issues though. I started going back to the gym this week, also no issues besides my headphones causing minor pain on my right ear (the more bruised and swollen one I mentioned in past updates).

I'm honestly not sure what else to write about, Dr.Baroody previously informed me, that we're still ways out from seeing the final result.

On an off note and something that i find funny, besides the people that I told I was getting surgery no one, and I mean no one that I work with or see frequently has said anything about my ears, which is truly what I wanted, for my ears not to be a focal point of my facial features.

So just got back from Dr. Baroody's office, had a routine checkup and the stitches removed, ears are still relatively swollen, my right side more so then my left. All in all they look really good, and I can thoroughly say that I am happy with the outcome. As the swelling goes down and the natural creases in my ear return, I will post more pics but for now here one to get an idea the changes.

So, I'm two days removed from surgery, and for starters let me say this, the procedure is 100% pain free, minus a few pricks of the needle to administer the anesthesia. It goes by relatively quick, especially if you can chat it up with doc, which I did. I will also suggest the local anesthesia route for anyone interested in this procedure, due to the fact that you can decide how far back you want your ears, for instance, Dr. Baroody's initial positioning of my ear made a weird C shape, that I wasn't particularly fond of, so I was able to have them pushed back a little more at the top.
Operation was relatively quick, I was in at 1:15pm and out at 2:55, I got to see the finished product before my entire head was wrapped and I can say that I am pretty optimistic for how they turn out over the next week or so. I then had my friend drive me home, which I come to find out wasn't really necessary, as i felt just fine to drive, but no harm no foul.

The first day is by far the worst!!! This is not an over exaggeration, I've broken bones and teeth that have been less painful, I was prescribed Hydromorphone, and I took 2 every 4hrs round the clock, I'm not sure if they worked, because it still hurt like hell, but if they did, I cant imagine what the pain would have been without em. I couldn't sleep, or eat much due the jaw movement causing pain in the ears, the meds made me very nauseous, and caused a weird high, that made me loopy but not tired enough to fall asleep. I've also NEVER been a back sleeper, exclusively on my sides, so that was another issue, in the end, I dealt with the pain, watched TV for hours upon hours, ate soft foods like yogurt and soup, and finally fell asleep.

Next day the pain had subsided by about 80%, I had a 10am to remove the wraps, this was relatively quick appointment, walk in, cut off wraps, clean up the blood, put ointment, then a velcro strapped headband, and I was out the door and back home. I spent the entire day on the couch again, sleeping on and off.

Today, I feel much better, I woke up early as usual, I went out and did grocery shopping, with a generic black headband on, pain is almost non existent. That's really all I can really say about my experience with the procedure as of now.

I know more people are interested about how the procedure turned out, but I don't want to lie to anyone and say that it did or did not work. My ears are still extremely swollen and bruised, they look horrifying, the positioning looks good, but they're larger then they were before because they are still healing. Dr. Baroody says by Sunday, I should see a significant difference and they should look close to normal. I can kind of envision that if and when they become the same size (in terms of thickness) and color as my ears used to be, they will look really good, and then I can for certain say weather or not this operation was a success, for now though, I'm left in dark just as you all are.