Seven-year-old Samantha Shaw struggled with children in her first grade class asking about her protruding and cup ears. Samantha’s mother says she has experienced teasing and probing questions from adults, too, who have asked what happened to her daughter’s ears, calling them “gross.”

The ear pinning surgery Samantha underwent is also known as otoplasty and is performed to correct overly large or protruding ears. By accessing the cartilage, the cosmetic surgeon is able to shape the ears and place them closer to the head. It can be performed on adults and children whose ears are fully developed.

After her surgery, Samantha showed little sign of pain while getting her bandages removed and said she thought the new appearance of her ears was “good.”

Though bullying can have a negative effect on a child, Cheryl Rode who is the director of clinical operations at the San Diego Center for Children, warns about being quick to lay blame on the victim. Rather, she says schools should be responsible for preventing bullying. This reminder just stresses the fact that anyone’s desire for cosmetic surgery, young or mature, should come from within.

Surgeons in Lithuania recently studied the success rate of different suture types used in Otoplasty.  A 3-year study was conducted with 100 patients.  They were divided into these groups based on the suture materials chosen:

• PDS
• Monocryl
• Mersilene

Patients (48 men and 52 women) had a median age of 20 years.  After analyzing the data for each group, the doctors found that 3 patients in the PDS group and 3 patients in the Monocryl group had unsatisfactory aesthetic outcomes requiring revision surgery.  Patients in the Mersilene suture group had the lowest rate of recurrence.

Read more about this study online on PubMed: “Comparison of otoplasty outcomes using different types of suture materials”