Adult Pin–back ear ops up by a third
"There is nothing Humorous about Prominent Ears" States 71-Year-Old Sufferer
London, UK – 7 November, 2005 - Leading Plastic Surgeon David Gault, a world expert on ear reconstruction based at Great Ormond Street and Mount Vernon, today addressed the latest age trends in pinning-back-ears surgery (‘otoplasty’), including a dramatic rise in the number of operations performed over the last three years, a fifth of which were to correct surgery that had previously failed in others’ hands.
The creator of a revolutionary DIY treatment that corrects ear deformities in newborns, which he designed when his own children were born with deformed ears, David Gault has noticed more adults than ever are seeking stick-out ear surgery, even when the procedure is usually thought to be only for children.
According to Consultant Plastic Surgeon and BAAPS-member David Gault;
“It is often thought that sufferers are too old to have the operation, or that they will simply ‘get over it’ as they get older, but quite the opposite is true. It’s quite common to try to disguise the problem with a clever hair style – I’ve seen teenagers who plait long strands at the sides of the head, and bristling sideburns in older gentlemen. But hair styles tend to get shorter with age, and particularly for men who lose their hair, camouflage slowly thins.”
A contributing factor for the surprising increase in older people going in for surgery may be that, previously, many have been put off by the need for general anaesthetic. But this sort of operation can now be done as an out-patient, under local anaesthetic. According to Mrs. Marjorie Smith, a 71-year-old sufferer;
“I did not know that my ears stuck out until I went to secondary school, and two (very pretty) girls started called me ‘Big-ears’. It was a shock from which I have never really recovered…even now, aged seventy-one, I still must have them covered with my hair”
David Gault’s own operating statistics show that purely cosmetic ear surgery, including surgery to pin back sticking-out ears, reduce the size of large ears and lobes, and to correct pointed “Spock” ears, has risen by well over a third each year for the last three years, and that over two-thirds of this increase is in adults. Figures for the first ten months of 2005 show that of over 130 cosmetic procedures on the ear, almost three quarters were on adults, and almost one fifth to correct surgery which had previously failed in other hands. Official figures from the British Association of Aesthetic Surgeons (BAAPS) confirm a growing trend: in 2003, 565 otoplasties were performed. By 2004, the number had climbed to 918, being the second-most popular procedure performed on men. Mrs Smith wrote to Mr Gault on hearing about Ear Buddies (www.earbuddies.co.uk) – the tiny splints he developed to fix ears at birth, which render defunct any future need for surgery. According to Mrs. Smith;
“There is nothing even vaguely humorous about sticking-out ears, and I hope that your £50 kit is used by mothers whose children have this condition. They will thank their mothers in later life ”
Mr Gault uses a corrective technique he developed after acting as expert witness in a number of legal cases in which ears were left deformed, and sometimes lost all together, after bat ear surgery.
ENDS
Designed by David Gault, one of the world's leading experts on the outer ear, Ear Buddies™ can correct simple deformities and pin back prominent ears without surgery, in as little as two weeks. Mr. David Gault can be contacted on 08707 661 066.
Ear Buddies™ are widely available to the public and can be purchased online, or by phone at 0906 802 0197.