Both corrective surgeries were disappointing and did not fix the asymmetry

Not sure why but my before and after photos did post correctly. Here’s a better look.

I have large protruding ears that creates a very asymmetrical look to my face. I consulted Paul Vanek in 2013 to have Otoplasty to correct my protruding ears and asymmetry.

Dr. Vanek consulted me on the surgery and I expressed multiple times my perspective of facial symmetry and how I wanted my ears to be corrected. Dr. Vanek would interject about his skill and experience and stated that he was confident he could take care of my needs

Fast forward to the surgery, everything went well, but when I got home to takeoff my bandages, I could tell that Dr. Vanek only adjusted my ears slightly, and did not take into consideration the asymmetry of my left ear that I had been complaining about.

I expressed all my concerns during my follow up meeting, and I had two adjustments on my left ear to try to correct what he had missed during the surgery. Both corrective surgery events were disappointing and did not fix the asymmetry I had been mentioning since day one.

After the second corrective surgery, I gave up my attempts to fix my ear and I tried not to think about it or let it bother me.

Fast forward 10 years and I'm still not pleased with my results. So I contacted another surgeon to fix Dr. Vaneks' mistake but the doctor would not take on my case due to my history with Dr. Vanek.

So I swallowed my pride, and I reached out to Dr. Vanek again. He agreed to meet me, so we met at the end of 2021. I stated how I was still unhappy and would like to try and achieve a more symmetrical look with my ears. After discussing my issues for a time, I finally got him to agree with me about my ear asymmetry. He took a photo of me and photoshopped it to match my desired effect so that he knew exactly what I was asking. He stated that he could adjust my ears by cutting out a portion of my earlobes and that would fix it.

If you're familiar with ears, you'll know that that's not even close to being a fix. But because he's the surgeon, I just listen to him and let him perform what he called an earlobe plasty. The earlobe plasty did make my ears maybe a millimeter smaller. So it was basically just a waste of money.

At our follow-up meeting, I expressed my concern that the earlobe plasty did not fix my original request, which was to make my ears more symmetrical with my face. Honestly, I'm not very proud of it but I did get a bit emotional (sad, not upset) when expressing my frustration his unwillingness to help me. At this point Dr. Vanek accused me of being suicidal and essentially threatened to put me in a two day psychiatric hold to make sure that I was emotionally stable. So essentially, he cornered me into a position where I can't ask him to fix any more mistakes without him accusing me of being emotionally compromised.

All that being said, I've been sitting on this review for six months debating on whether or not to share at my story. After thinking about it for a bit I think everyone who considers Dr. Vanek should know the risks with using him.

In my situation, Dr. Vanek seemed unprofessional, tardy, exhausted, disingenuous and condescending. Also, in total, I spent somewhere around $7500 and I'm still not pleased.