Otoplasty In Iran

2. Otoplasty Surgery in Iran

The target area is highlighted. Patients can undergo either local or general anesthesia. Otoplasty on both ears typically takes about an hour and a half. The incisions are generally made behind the ears. It involves using special sutures to create the required folds, reducing or removing some parts of the cartilage. The shape of the cartilage is held with sutures and the incision is closed with dissolving sutures. A bandage is placed around the head.

4. Aftercare & Follow-up after Otoplasty

After spending about a week in Iran, you can continue the rest of your recovery period in your own country. We provide a 2-year follow up service for all our patients regardless of their surgery type. During this time, you will be in contact with specialists and receive necessary instructions via voice or video calls. Your doctor will also keep you under observation and you can ask any questions that you might have. The following are the main instructions that you must keep yourself in line with during your recovery:

• The complete recovery may be achieved after six weeks
• Stay away from smoking and drinking for a minimum period of two weeks
• Keep your head elevated during the first few weeks to allow for proper blood flow
• Avoid using a blow dryer or other hair drying tools to keep your head cool and dry during your recovery
• Apply ointments on a regular basis to the incision areas on your ear
• Do not resume any rigorous activity for at least two weeks after surgery

How Much Does a Otoplasty Cost in Iran?

As an average price, an otoplasty can cost you around 3,736$ in the world. The otoplasty price surges to near $4,000 in the US and 5000$ in the UK. Compared with the price of $1,700 in Iran, there is a big gap between the cost of otoplasty in Iran and the world average. This lower cost does not come at the cost of quality of services or experience of surgeons. On contrary, Iran offers you a mixture of high standard services, skilled surgeons and very affordable prices from 1500$. Here at Flora, you can choose your otoplasty package which includes your whole surgery cost plus several free offerings at a price starting from 1300$

Why is Otoplasty done?

If you are thinking about having an otoplasty, read the following reasons why the procedure might be a useful option for you:

• Treating ear traumas such as microtia
• Pinning the ear back to a standard size for those with oddly big ears
• Augmenting the ear for candidates with smaller ear size
• Reshaping the ear to create the desirable look
• Enhancing your confidence by improving your appearance

Who is a Good Candidate for Otoplasty?

The best candidates for otoplasty are those who are dealing with one of the following problems:

• Large ear lobules
• Ear with different sizes and shapes
• Prominent ears
• Oddly big ears (Macrotia)
• Asymmetric ears
• Oddly small ears
• Ear deformities
• Being dissatisfied with appearance of the ear

Preparing for Otoplasty

Make sure to go in live with the following instructions to get well-prepared for your otoplasty procedure in Iran. The main instructions for otoplasty preparation include the below lines:

• Stay in a healthy diet, full of mineral and necessary vitamins for 4-6 months before your surgery
• Keep your body well–hydrated during the month before surgery time spot
• Try to get near to ideal weight prior to your surgery
• Avoid smoking and drinking for 4 to 6 pre-op weeks
• Do not eat anything from the night before surgery
• Make the necessary arrangements for a 2-week off-work period during your recovery
• Wear sunscreen daily, preferably for at least 2-4 weeks before your surgery time

Types of Otoplasty

Typical for any procedure, otoplasty is also divided into two main types; surgical and non–surgical. The below cases are the main types of surgical otoplasty:

• Ear augmentation

This option can help people with small size of ears to bring them back to a standard size. The surgery may also help patients achieve symmetry in their ears by evening out their sizes.

• Ear pinning

Ear pinning is a type of cosmetic Otoplasty that draws protruding ears closer to the sides of the face. During the procedure, the surgeon removes cartilage and skin behind your ears and pins back your ears. Here, he/she mainly uses permanent sutures, or stitches to perform the procedure. The procedure is mainly for children at age 5 or 6, but some adults also choose ear pinning to improve their appearance.

• Ear reduction

If you have an overly big ear size, ear reduction can help reduce your ear size to the standard proportion. The procedure mainly works by pinning back the ear to the right smaller size to create a better appearance.

However, if you would rather not to risk the complications of a surgical procedure, you can opt for a non-surgical Otoplasty procedure as following:

• The incisionless otoplasty

This procedure comes with several advantages such as involving no cutting of ear cartilage, lack of any permanent scaring, and no need for anesthesia. During the procedure, the surgeon will apply special sutures to create a more symmetrical appearance in the ears. However, contrary to a surgical otoplasty, the sutures added during this procedure will remain intact after the procedure. However, the sutures will not be visible to the naked eye.

• CO2 laser-assisted otoplasty

This is a novel technique that improves the appearance of protruding ear shape without resorting into incisions. There are mainly two objectives for the CO2 laser-assisted otoplasty procedure. The first objective is to decrease the mastoid-scapha angle up to approximately 30°; and the second is for the conchal-scapha angle to be reduced to its usual angle of approximately 90°. This procedure can help restructure the scapha and the antihelix fold, diminish the size of the concha.

Techniques of Otoplasty

Otoplasty techniques go into three main categories; suturing techniques, scoring techniques, and EarFold method. In below you can find some details about how these techniques work:

Suture fixation technique (by Mustardé)

Suture fixation use a foreign material called sutures to create the desired shape in the ears. The use of sutures has several advantages such as being totally adjustable, and suitable for correction of ear prominence. These sutures get rarely infected and are permanent but in a way that they are not visible. The following is how this technique is mainly performed:

• The surgeon starts the procedure by injecting local anesthetics
• Next, he/she makes a long incision on the back of the ear and removes a strip of skin
• He/she dissects the skin from the cartilage between the edge of the ear (helix) and the place where the ear is attached to the head (sulcus posterior). This exposes the skin to the cartilage on the back of the ear
• He/she bends antihelix fold more strongly and forms a new one with sutures that are anchored in the cartilage (The cartilage is left completely intact)
• At last, the skin is closed using sutures

Anterior scoring techniques

Anterior scoring otoplasty is a commonly used technique to create an improved antihelical fold. As its name suggest, it uses scoring and cutting instead of sutures to bring the target shape to the ear. If needed, the surgeon may use a combination of scoring and suturing technique to achieve finer results. In below you can find the main steps of the technique:

• The procedure starts with marking the intended antihelix 
• Next, the surgeon will apply local anesthetic and Epinephrine
• The surgery continues by removing the ellipse of the posterior skin
• He/she makes incisions along the scapha postero-laterally
• Scoring takes place in line with the marking of the intended antihelix
• If needed, a vicryl stich is used to keep the free edge of the cartilage

EarFold method

This is a technique for pinning protruding ears that uses a metal implant made from nitinol instead of sutures. The technique offers several advantages such as are fast and permanent results, lower costs, with barely visible scars. Moreover, the candidate can see the potential results device called pre-fold device before the surgery. The following are the main steps of performing this technique:

• The surgery begins with injection of local anesthesia
• Next, the surgeon first makes a tiny incision in the skin that is about 5mm
• Then, he/she lifts away the skin from the ear, revealing the underlying ear cartilage
• Afterwards, the surgeon will place the implant in the target place
• At last, the surgery ends by re-draping the skin over the implant, and closing the incision using dissolvable stitches