Thank you for your question.
It's about 14 weeks since your last surgery and you've submitted a very detailed series
of photos of your ear after you've undergone a facelift and platysmaplasty surgery, as
you describe, performed by 20-year experienced Board-certified plastic surgeon.
You stated that you knew you were concerned about some pulling and some pain and numbness
involving your ears and you describe how your earlobe was detached and now it appears attached.
Of course you also mentioned in your a question that you and your doctor have had a disagreement
about the perception of this issue, so now you're looking for additional opinions.
But I can certainly give you some perspective on this.
I’m a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon, certified by the American Board of Cosmetic
Surgery, and Fellowship-trained oculofacial plastic surgeon, practicing for more than
20 years in Manhattan and Long Island.
Eyelid surgery, face lifting and neck lifting surgery is a big part of my practice and I
can certainly give you my perspective on how we deal with patients who have this type of
issue.
To begin with what you're describing is often referred to as a Pixie Ear deformity.
It's not the most flattering terminology but basically it happens when an earlobe that
is rounded and detached becomes attached and pulled downward.
There are a variety of reasons at this can occur and since no one reviewing this question
can state exactly what happened doing during your surgery, there are a couple of ways to
approach this.
It's a matter of really just making the right choice between these two options.
Sometimes when the Pixie Ear deformity occurs, it is because there is some tension on the
earlobe that is causing the skin to pull downward and the earlobe is being dragged along with
it.
Now that can be interpreted as a skin shortage but it may be that that's the situation at
which point it is probably advisable to allow little bit of time for the maximum pull to
finally dissipate.
This is still 14 weeks after surgery, there is a lot of dynamic changes.
Usually, if it's tolerable and there's no urgent issue with it, we try to wait for anywhere
from 3 to 6 months after a patient has had surgery to address this issue.
Now if there is enough skin and if there's other issues, then what we would do is actually
elevate the skin to restore that connection in a way that the skin doesn't drag down and
so the earlobe can be reset.
More commonly, when I see patients in consultation with the Pixie Ear issue, there’s usually
a skin shortage, so there is no room to pull upward any further.
In those situations, we actually just detach the earlobe, roll it under to create create
that detached earlobe look, and then we close that area underneath so that the skin to skin
and the earlobe can be seen nicely and defined and that is something that is relatively straightforward.
So it might be that your doctor, with your ongoing visits, may decide to agree with you
and go ahead and do this.
If you're satisfied with the rest of your facial cosmetic procedure, then it would be
a shame to let this is sour your experience with your doctor.
So you may want to give your doctor another chance at resolving this because I think that
most doctors who perform facelifting surgery will understand what to do, whether or not
they were responsible for the creation of the situation.
But this is just something where the answer is simply yes, something can be done, it's
a matter of deciding which option—do you need the face to be lifted further and the
dynamics to be changed, which is less common, and more commonly is to do something that's
more local, at the level of the ear lobes that can restore the shape and complete the
results so that you are satisfied with the final outcome.
So the answer to your question is something can be done, but I would suggest that you
just try to have to talk to your doctor again.
A lot of surgeons don't always have the best interpersonal skills, so it's probably worth
just giving them another chance to see if you can have your original doctor who knows
your skin, knows your situation, and if they're willing to do it then that’s probably who
you should really go to, instead of just abandoning all hope in 14 weeks.
I think that if you feel there is too much friction and ill will or if your surgeon is
still determined not to acknowledge that there is a significant change that can be managed,
then of course meeting with other doctors to resolve this is going to be necessary.
So I hope that was helpful and wish you the best of luck.
Thank you for your question.