Ear correction surgery

[Mrssquishysquish]

Hi,

My daughter is 14, we've been going to our GP regarding my daughters ears which stick out, she's very self conscious of it and has decided she would like to have surgery to correct them.

This wasn't a quick and easy decision for her/us. We went to the Gp to discuss this last September, after many delays because they forgot to put referral in and then being denied at panel twice because they say this procedure is cosmetic and no longer available on the NHS. I've been advised we need to go private for this.

I haven't received any other information and I feel a bit lost! When I've tried contacting places many won't carry out the procedure on under 18s.

My question is, does anybody have any recommendations for this surgery in the North East of England?

I appreciate any advice.

Thanks 😊

Hi, I don’t have any recommendations I’m afraid (I’m south east), but is there any way you can push your GP to do the referral again? My son is 11 and had his ears pinned last year - this was on the NHS.

Nuffield in Jesmond do it, not sure if any age restrictions though

So wrong it’s a postcode lottery- my nephew had it done last summer but they had to pay privately despite him being bullied mercilessly at school and them really protruding very badly. He’s so much happier now they are done and much more confident so they feel like it was worth every penny.

I don't think there is much point, I don't even think we ever get to see an actual GP. This has been on-going since August last year, I don't think it will make any difference, even though its so jnfair that it is a postcode lottery. She's really down and she's been messed around so much from them that I'm thinking I should just go private and get it done ASAP.

It's frustrating but I think it will be worth it.

It will definitely be worth it. If I can offer any advice it would be don’t under estimate the recovery period! Everything I read suggested the operation would be a breeze and it would all be back to normal within 6 weeks. Of course, every child is different but the first couple of weeks were really hard going and we had lots of tears. It wasn’t pleasant having the stitches removed, and nearly a year later my son still gets random pain and can’t wear headphones for long. But all that aside, his new ears are amazing and he’s a much happier child!

Thank you for this advice. Did he have the procedure under general or local anaesthetic?

I have found somewhere called the skin surgery clinic who will do the surgery but its under local anaesthetic and I think she might struggle with the idea of being awake. I also wouldn't be able to be in the room with her to reassure.

I'm pleased your son is happy with the outcome and it was all worth while 😊

He had it under general anaesthetic. I was not prepared for watching him go under! They wouldn’t let us leave the ward until quite late at night as the operation was on his head and the anaesthetic made him feel pretty sick. It was a difficult day all round!

I don’t think my son would have coped if it was a local anaesthetic but then he was quite a bit younger than your daughter. The operation was also longer (2 hours), as one of his ears needed to be slightly reshaped as well as pinned.

Sorry if I’ve made it sound absolutely terrible, but it will definitely be worth while in the end 😊

No you haven't, I want to get as much info as possible. My daughter is keen for the procedure but is aware it is local and this upset her at first but seems to be coming around ti the idea- i think this is ib oart down to being so desperate for it to be done. She's naturally worried and scared if it will hurt. I would rather delay and find somewhere that can do it under general.

Her main concern at the moment is if she can watch her tablet or something when she's getting it done 🙄

Thank you for all of your advice, it's been very helpful 😊

My daughter is 13 and had hers done yesterday on the NHS we are East Yorkshire

Under general
1st day all fine as fully numbed ,
day 2 we have just got back from the hospital at 1:30am as pain is unbearable for her and normal over the counter meds ain’t working so prescribed codeine so hopefully that will help , just got to keep reminding her it will all be worth it as she was very self conscious.