Question:
My daughter is seven years old and has ears that stick out from her face. She’s always being teased about her ears, and my husband and I are contemplating an ear pinning procedure for her. I heard that the younger someone is, the easier this type of surgery is. Could you please tell me if this is true or not?
Answer:
This is not necessarily true. We typically perform the surgery at four-five years before children enter school, but any time after that is acceptable. The children are more interested in having this done at seven-eight years of age as they already had a difficult time dealing with ridicule and often have a higher level of motivation and they do very well.
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.