Ear Surgery (Otoplasty)

Otoplasty at Plastika Praha corrects protruding or asymmetric ears by reshaping the ear cartilage through an incision hidden behind the ear, setting the ears closer to the head in natural proportion. The procedure is performed under local anesthesia by MUDr. Tomáš Doležal at the clinic's Prague 3 facility, takes about 60–90 minutes for both ears, requires no overnight stay, and is priced from 28,000 Kč on the clinic's published list. Results are permanent and the scar is concealed in the fold behind the ear.

Protruding ears (otapostasis) are usually caused by an underdeveloped antihelical fold — the cartilage ridge that normally bends the ear back toward the head — or an overly deep conchal bowl. Because the issue is structural cartilage shape, it does not change with age, and otoplasty is the definitive correction for both adults and older children bothered by it. **Technique:** Through an incision hidden in the crease behind the ear, Dr. Doležal exposes the cartilage and recreates the missing antihelical fold with permanent shaping sutures (and scores or trims cartilage where it is stiff), and reduces the conchal bowl if it contributes to the protrusion. Both ears are treated in one session to ensure symmetry — even when only one ear appears prominent, subtle adjustment of the other usually gives the most balanced outcome. The operation takes roughly 60–90 minutes under local anesthesia; adult patients chat with the surgeon throughout. **Recovery:** A head bandage protects the ears for the first days, replaced by an elastic headband worn at night for several weeks to guard the new cartilage shape during sleep. Discomfort is mild and managed with ordinary analgesics. Most patients return to work within a few days; contact sports wait about 6 weeks. Sutures behind the ear are removed or dissolve at 1–2 weeks, and the scar sits invisibly in the retroauricular fold. **Result:** Permanent. The change is immediately visible once the first bandage comes off, with fine swelling settling over a few weeks. Otoplasty consistently ranks among the most satisfying aesthetic procedures because the correction is definitive, the downtime short, and — for many patients — it ends a lifetime of hairstyle camouflage.