Question:
I’ve been looking into ear surgery for my seven-year-old son. I understand that fixing his ears now could be really good for him, but at the same time the thought of electing surgery for my child is really difficult. What sort of concerns or considerations are there for performing this surgery on children? Also, my son’s ears are generally large and stick out from his head, but would he ever grow into them?
Answer:
Ideally the best time to repair protruding ears on a child is before the child enters school. At that time, the ears are approximately 80-90% full size and it does not affect their growth. We feel this is the ideal time before the child starts school and becomes ridiculed. Unfortunately, children are cruel and psychologically this can be fairly devastating during the formative years. Nonetheless, this problem can also be addressed later in life and it is not unusual to see patients in their early adolescent years for surgery.
About the Author: Dr. Edwin Williams
Dr. Edwin Williams is a double board-certified facial plastic surgeon who founded The Williams Center in 1993. He has performed over 10,000 facial plastic surgery procedures and has pioneered the deep plane facelift. He served on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery for over a decade, and served as President from 2015-2016. In 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, Dr. Williams earned the Castle Connelly Top Doctors award in New York Facial Plastic Surgery.
Dr. Edwin F. Williams III attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1982. He began medical school at the State University of Buffalo School of Medicine and received his Doctor of Medicine in 1986.
Dr. Williams is actively involved in teaching facial plastic and reconstruction surgery to the residents of the Albany Medical Center and is former Chief of the Section of Facial and Plastic Reconstruction Surgery at Albany Medical Center where he received an academic appointment of Clinical Professor, Department of Surgery.