Otoplasty - Is Now The Time For Your Child?

First and foremost, it is imperative to honor a child’s decisions concerning the idea, and before you decide to forge on with the procedure, make sure to know the details of the recovery restrictions. It may seem like a simple decision for you to make for your child to undergo an otoplasty, but remember that you can only guess how your child actually feels about it, and even if it seems like it is a decision that you would make for yourself, know that even though you are the guardian, it is ultimately your child’s decision.

If he/she has an issue with the look of his/her ears, you will likely know. Your job is to determine just how detrimental the condition is to the prospective patient’s daily life. If the child has endured relentless teasing, has become introverted, and/or keeps themselves out of the public eye, and you feel that his protruding ears have contributed to this behavior, then it is probably okay to bring up the option. If you merely wonder about the physical feature yourself, or if it bothers you rather than your child, it is in the child’s best interest to be left alone until he broaches the subject himself.

If it is a mutual interest to research the possibility of otoplasty, begin by doing a little research yourself before having a consultation with your child’s pediatrician or primary care physician. Start your search for a fitting plastic surgeon based on your pediatrician’s referral. This doctor is likely to have made such a referral previously having gathered feedback from the patient as well as formed a personal /professional opinion about a prospective surgeon’s ability to deal with young patients. You will find in most all specialties of medicine that a doctor’s ability to relate to children and treat them respectfully is as important as his/her medical credentials, so make sure to voice to your referring doctor your concern of the element.

Before making a final decision, become familiar with the recovery process of otoplasty. There is a long recovery time during which a child will not be able to engage in physical activities, and for some children, feeling left out of fun will be more detrimental than the original condition. Know your child well enough to know if he/she will be able to sit out a season of baseball, cheerleading, boy scout camp, etc. in order to let the ear surgery heal. If it seems that participating in normal activities is more important to your child than going forward with the surgery, halt your investigation and revisit the idea another time.

Otoplasty is a completely cosmetic surgery that is meant to help a person feel better about themselves emotionally with the help of a physical tweak, and if the future patient seems emotionally stable with all of his or her physical attributes, then it is probably not the right time to go through with the surgery.