EarBuddies were invented in 1990 by Plastic Surgeon David Gault FRCS, one of the world’s leading experts on reconstructive surgery of the outer ear, to treat his newborn son. EarBuddies are designed to be fitted at home by parents, and are also used in some of the most eminent children’s hospitals worldwide, including the NHS (UK), Mayo Clinic (USA), The Portland Hospital (London), and Boston Children’s Hospital (Harvard).
By treating babies early and avoiding surgery, EarBuddies provide better results, without risk, at lower cost, and avoid the bullying and psychological trauma that usually leads to surgery. Almost thirty years after EarBuddies were first developed, it is the world’s best selling Early Ear Correction™ system, and has helped thousands of babies to grow up comfortable and confident with their ears.

Stick-out ears like Santi's can make life miserable and lead to "reduced quality of life & self-esteem, social avoidance and poor performance in school." Children and adults are often teased and while names like 'Dumbo, Big Ears, Yoda, Spock & Wing Nut' can be meant in jest, they can have a deeper psychological impact.
Once, corrective ear surgery (Otoplasty/ Pinnaplasty) was the only option, costing up to £5000 for the average UK paediatric case. General anaesthesia and time off school or work are usually needed, and while post-op pain can be managed*, complication rates e.g. scarring can be as high as 10%.*

Now there's an ingenious way to fix your baby's ear problems before they are aware of them, avoiding the emotional impact of bullying & teasing, and the costs & complications of surgery. EarBuddies splints reshape the soft cartilage of baby's ears, resulting in a permanent, surgery-free correction.

We think of it like fitting braces to a child’s teeth, only more affordable and quicker. Newborn babies can get great results in just 2 weeks. If your baby is older, this can take longer. Santi was 5 months old when his mother fitted EarBuddies. 4 weeks later, he can grow up comfortable and confident with his ears.
"We realised our Daughter Alejandra's ears were pointing out when she was about a month old. I never heard about EarBuddies before until I searched online several times looking for a solution to her ears. At this point she was already 9 weeks old. We decided to go ahead but we also decided to start the splinting when she was almost 4 months old because we were going to be traveling for about 6 weeks. Even if starting the splinting later was against the advice given, we still got very good results and we are very happy.
We cannot say it was easy because Alejandra had a lot of eczema and very sensitive skin on her face and head and she went through teething as well. We also could not keep the EarBuddies on for more than 10 days in a row, because her skin was getting very irritated but still with all these difficulties we got very good results after 16 weeks and we think it was very worth it. Alejandra's ears are not perfect but they look normal which was our goal. Thank you EarBuddies, we will ALWAYS recommend you.”
Lola, Stelios & their Daughter Alejandra - Greece
Read Lola's full story here!
"Our gorgeous daughter was born in December 2018. By a couple of months old we noticed that her ears had started to protrude and were continuing to grow outwards. We were advised to research EarBuddies by the GP and when we read other parents’ experiences we decided to give them a try.
They were very easy to put on and take off and never bothered our beautiful daughter once, even though she has always been a very alert, active baby and we didn’t get started until she was 4 months old. After only 11 weeks she is now 6 and half months and the EarBuddies have made a huge difference, especially as the cartilage has begun to harden in the correct position. Thanks EarBuddies, we’re so pleased and now definitely know we made the right decision!"
Emma, Peter & their Daughter Sophie - Northern Ireland
Read the full story here!
About 5% of babies are born with abnormally shaped or stick-out ears, but a further 2% of babies develop stick-out ears in the first 6 months of life. EarBuddies™ splints can be fitted by parents at home in under 20 minutes. An independent study at the Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow in 2012 showed a 78% success rate in newborns when splints are fitted by parents, with 73% rating ease of use as 'easy' or 'incredibly easy'. With early splintage and dedication, fantastic results continue to be achieved by parents at home.
When your baby is born, the cartilage framework of the ears is extremely soft because of Mum’s hormones. Some squashing of the ears is natural at birth, but if the ears remain an odd shape after 48 hours, or if they start to stick out, this will quite quickly become permanent as the cartilage hardens. EarBuddies splints re-mould the cartilage folds in a baby's ears to restore the natural curves and hold the ear close to the side of the head so that when the framework hardens in the controlled shape, there is a permanent, surgery-free correction.
While the majority of EarBuddies™ are fitted by parents at home, when professionally fitted and the treatment supervised, success rates rise to up to 92%, even in older babies or those with difficult ear problems.
Professional fitting combines the surgery-free, permanent correction of EarBuddies™ with the clinical experience of trained fitters. Choose amongst our global network of EarBuddies™ Professionals.