Dr. Sam Lam Plastic Surgery Forum

Hi Dr. Sam Lam
When you pull back the ears do you need to cut the cartilage everytime.Sometimes can you pull them back without cuting cartilage.

good question:
only when i do a cup reduction do i cut cartilage. when i do a lop reduction, i never cut cartilage. i believe that if you cut cartilage along the antihelical fold then you can create visible problems down the road. conversely, i believe that if you do not reduce the conchal bowl through cartilage reduction you do not get a good reduction that also lasts. if these points of anatomy elude you, review my learning module on this web site:
http://www.lamfacialplastics.com/resour ... -tutorial/