Thank you for your question.
You submitted your question with a photo showing your ear after undergoing otoplasty with what
appears to be some steri-strips.
And you’re stating in your question that your surgeon didn't put any kind of bandage
after your otoplasty and didn't particularly provide any kind of guidance as to how to
protect the ear during sleep.
And you feel that your surgeon was being unprofessional and you’re concerned that the lack of certain
aftercare instructions that you have obviously researched is not going to allow you to get
the final result that you desire.
Well, certainly I can give you some guidance as to how I do otoplasty and what my general
approach is and why I do things the way I do and that can help you in the context of
your surgeon’s approach.
A little bit of background, I’m a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial
plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
I have been in practice in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years.
Otoplasty of different types is something I perform in our practice and I have certain
aftercare approaches that I will share with you to give you a sense of why I do it this
way and also help you with some perspective as to why your surgeon has chosen a different
way.
So to begin with, we’ll start with the fear that you have about your surgeon’s level
of professionalism.
I think it’s premature to cast this kind of judgment of unprofessional upon your surgeon.
I think that we all, as surgeons, have our own styles based on our experience.
And to give you an idea of what I mean by this, when I was in training and learning
face lifting surgery, I had one preceptor who after face lifting surgery, wrapped the
patient in so many bandages and put multiple drains and then put essentially a plaster
cast over the head.
And the next day after surgery, we have to take all of that apart, pull drains and do
all kinds of things.
Well, certainly my preceptor had his justification but in my own practice and in the way I do
my face lifting surgery, I changed the way I did my dressings to match the way I did
my surgery.
So when it comes to otoplasty, there is basically one significant concern and that is the accumulation
of fluid in between the skin and the cartilage.
And to reduce that risk, we place some type of a compression, type of dressing for the
first 24-48 hours and then change that dressing.
Typically, once everything is clear, then I’ll have the patient wear like a sports
headband especially when going to sleep to try to minimize the risk of the ear bending
in the opposite direction putting some stress on the healing of the areas where there are
sutures and raw edges that are still healing.
So that’s basically I think the general idea and philosophy of a lot of my colleagues.
Now that being said, in your situation, your surgeon may have done dissection which they
felt was very clean that didn't appear to cause them concern and maybe from experience,
they’ve decided that, generally speaking, putting some steri-strips is adequate and
it’s a matter of that doctor’s personal choice.
I think that certainly, it is very important for you to have a dialogue with your doctor.
It is likely that you chose your doctor after seeing before and after examples of the doctor
who performed otoplasty and you’ve made the decision just the way most people do when
they chose their doctor which is based on that doctor’s experience and relative expertise
and mastery of a particular procedure.
So I think that if your doctor has a rational justification for their approach, then that’s
part of the dynamics of trust between the doctor and the patient.
Now if the doctor may decide to help you maybe feel a little bit more secure and do something
such as wearing the sport headband at night, you know that’s part of the synergy between
the patient and the physician.
So I think that again, to restate that it’s premature to say that your doctor was being
unprofessional.
I think, again, individual doctor’s style hopefully is reflective of their experience.
And I think that you can certainly get a lot more clarification by having this conversation
directly with your surgeon.
So I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your question.