Otoplasty should be treated in childhood before age of 10.Otoplasty surgery can be done under local anesthesia in adults.

The prominent ear is the most prevalent deformity of the ear, and occurs in roughly 5% of children. You may notice that multiple members of your family have this condition. Several factors may contribute to the development of prominent ears, but its inheritance as an autosomal dominant trait is probably the most important. The condition may be bilateral (both ears) or unilateral (one ear).

In children, the prominent the ear that is noticeable is often the source of teasing by of the children. Unfortunately, nicknames are assigned to children with this problem, such as “Dumbo ears.”  

There are several anatomical features that cause the protrusion of the ear. They are the lack of development or partial development of the antihelix, or a deep concha (cup) of the external ear. Other variables include the size of the concha (cup), the angle of the concha with the head, and the angle of the ear cartilage fold. In most patients there is a combination of all of these features that may need to be adjusted during the otoplasty procedure.

These problems will emphasize the protrusion of the ear, which is the distance from the edge of the helix (the ear rim) to the mastoid (the skull behind the ear). The normal distance of this measurement should be about 2 cm.