Young Ear Surgery Patient Featured on Good Morning America

Ear surgery, or otoplasty, corrects overly prominent ears and is often done on young patients. Good Morning America recently followed a seven-year-old girl on her journey as she underwent the procedure.

First grader Samantha Shaw told Good Morning America that she didn’t like people asking about her ears, and her mother was concerned her ears would make her daughter self-conscious and shy.

They decided to get her ear surgery, which can be done in young children because their ears are about 90 percent the size of an adult’s, unlike the nose or chin, according to her surgeon, Dr. Steven Pearlman.

During the surgery, a small incision is made behind the ear and then the cartilage and skin is removed and remodeled. Sutures are placed to close the incisions and hold the ears in place. On children, the procedure is usually done under general anesthesia. The resulting scar is inconspicuous, and recovery from ear surgery takes about two weeks.

Samantha traveled from her home in South Dakota to New York City to undergo the surgery. After the procedure, she said it looks and feels “good.”

Her mom saw the ear pinning as more than a cosmetic procedure; she said it was a preventive way to keep Samantha from getting bullied about her appearance. According to her mom, before the surgery, Samantha’s protruding ears made her the target of hurtful questions by both children and adults.

“I don’t want her to be teased and bullied and then have her lash out and treat people the way she’s being treated,” Samantha’s mom said.