“Does ear pinning surgery hurt?”
I am a 22 year old female. I want to know if ear pinning surgery hurts?
8 Answers
Otoplasty is performed as an outpatient procedure. I typically recommend using general anesthesia. General, local or twilight sedation may be used for older patients. During the procedure, I will create an incision behind the ear, in the natural crease where the ear meets the head. Scarring is usually well concealed. To resize overly large ears, I will remove cartilage and skin as needed. I may also reshape the cartilage to improve the shape of the ears. For protruding ears, I will reshape the cartilage then secure it using permanent sutures. Once I am done making all of the agreed-upon modifications, I will close the incisions with dissolvable sutures.
It is usually done under local anesthesia and it’s painless.
There clearly is some discomfort following this procedure, but it is usually very controllable and limited in duration. The fact that you are 22 years old certainly is an issue. The best results with this procedure are usually achieved in younger patients (ages 7-10) where the ear cartilage is softer and more malleable.
Most of my patients state there is minimal discomfort from ear pinning surgery. They state that the dressing is probably more annoying than the pain itself. Hope this helps.
Like other surgical procedures, anesthesia will prevent all sensation of pain during ear pinning. After the procedure, your doctor will prescribe analgesics to use as needed for pain control. As healing progresses, pain generally resolves completely, usually within weeks. Over the counter medications such as ibuprofen and tylenol may be enough to control your pain after ear pinning.
Ear pinning surgery (also known as Otoplasty) is usually performed under general anesthesia and so the actually surgery is painless. However, there is some discomfort after surgery but this is usually very minimal and only for a few days. Most patients can manage with over the counter pain meds and do very well post-operatively.
Ear pinning is relatively painful for an adult, so expect to be down for a few days and to have difficulty getting comfortable at night. However, mild analgesics like ibuprofen are usually sufficient to get you through the convalescence.
Dr. Mes.
Dr. Mes.
Unfortunately, all surgery involves some discomfort and yes some degree of pain. To limit the pain for our patients, we do a number of things, including making adequate pain medication available initially post-op, handling the tissues gently during the surgery which I think helps, and placing a protective but not excessively tight bandage. Many patients are just taking Tylenol after the first day or two.
