Ear Buddies Ltd
is proud to supply
the
Mayo Clinic,
Rochester, MN, USA
and the US Navy
into 2012
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by sending in
your stories and pix to
Ear of the Year 2012!
The winner of our Ear of the Year 2011 competition
will be announced shortly
April and May Bank Holidays!
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Will your new baby be teased about their ears as they grow up? Stick-out or funny-looking ears can make life miserable for children and surgery was once the only solution. Now there's an ingenious way of correcting the problem in babies, even if they don’t start to stick out until later.
"Parents are often falsely reassured that their child will grow into their ears," says David Gault FRCS, Consultant Plastic Surgeon at London's Portland Hospital for Women and Children. "Quite often, the very opposite is the case – parents are relieved when their child looks normal at birth, and then, over the course of the first three to six months, the ears slowly drift outwards. Surgery for sticking-out ears should become a thing of the past - it's a shame if the chance to avoid an operation is missed."
Many ear deformities can be corrected at birth by a splintage device, which is essentially what Ear Buddies provides. The cartilage in the ear is floppy at birth because of the effect of oestrogen, a hormone produced by the mother, on its structure.It slowly hardens into adulthood but this happens most rapidly between birth and one year. During this period, splintage can work really well. In a newborn it can correct a deformed or sticking-out ear within two weeks; in a three-month-old within ten weeks. At birth, the sweat and oil glands of the skin are poorly developed, so the tapes needed for splintage stick well, the baby barely moves and the cartilage is highly re-mouldable.
Without any treatment, a prominent ear can become worse as a baby begins to turn his head and catch it on his shoulder.
The older the child, the more difficult the splintage. By 3 you need to be persistent to see results and it could take eight months. Splints are comfortable and children usually tolerate them surprisingly well. Failing this, surgery is best left until after 5 to allow the cartilage to harden enough to hold the stitches.
If you are interested in trying splints, ask your GP for a referral to your nearest paediatric plastic surgeon. Ear Buddies are available on the NHS in some plastic surgery units.
Dr Jane Collins, Chief Executive and Honorary Consultant Paediatrican, Great Ormond Street Hospital, The Times 2006
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