I had a facelift 10 years ago and now have a "Pixie Ear" effect?
Before the operation, I did have unusual ears but I didn't have an unattached earlobe.
It looked attached.
Do you think this can be corrected?
Thank you for your question!
You submitted a question with photos of your ears and stating that you had a facelift 10
years ago and you have pixie years.
You want to know if this can be corrected.
Well, the answer is yes.
Pixie ears do happen in face lifting surgery.
When I evaluate a patient with pixie ear deformity, I basically look at a couple different factors.
Unfortunately, people who come with pixie form deformity because of a facelift, a lot
of times it's because of very aggressive skin removal at the lower part of the facelift
flap which results in the pulling of the skin that pulls the ear.
Unfortunately, there's also skin shortage that goes with that so there's a compromise
to make that look better.
Usually that's a different procedure.
In a scenario where you're 10 years out of a facelift, there are basic two options.
One is if you are ready for another face lifting procedure.
Very often, it's not the same procedure that you had 10 years ago but kind of limited procedure
then when the skin is lifted up, the pixie area can actually be rotated inward and sutured
in a way so that it can be rounded back to normal and the face can be placed in a proper
position thereby eliminating that downward pull.
If you are quite ready for another facelift procedure, well the pixie ear deformity can
be treated as well.
What is essentially done is that the ear lobe is detached from the skin and then through
a straightforward suturing technique, the ear lobe is rounded so that and reattached
and that leaves a little bit of skin defect which is closed with a couple of stitches
and is pretty easy to hide.
That second procedure which is the minimal repair is basically you can do under local
anesthesia.
If you wanted to do a more extensive procedure, like another facelift can certainly be corrected
at that time.
So the answer to your question again is, yes it can be corrected but a proper physical
examination will help determine what direction you will be heading and of course what you
are personal preference.
So I hope that was helpful and thank you for your question!