Is my kid too young to have surgery.

Question:

My 8 year old son is constantly teased because of his large ears. He wants to have a surgery, but I feel that he is too young and still growing and may regret having surgery in the future. What can I say to him to deter him from wanting this?

Answer:

Actually, you have really described the exact timing for when prominent ears should be fixed. This should really be at the request of the child and not the parent, and it should be at the time when the child is motivated to have them fixed because of teasing. Researchers think that it is important to probably do this early on, so that his body image and self-confidence and personality development do not suffer as a result of teasing from the deformity.

The operation to improve prominent ears is actually quite simple and usually only takes about an hour or an hour-and-a-half. It is done as an outpatient surgery, particularly at his age. I have never actually had a patient who regretted having a surgery, so I would not worry too much about that part.

As a parent of three young children, one of whom has had to have a lot of surgery, I know this is a very difficult decision. This is certainly not an easy answer for you, but I can tell you confidently that this is a great operation for most children with this problem, and may be an easy way to avert some of the developmental problems that can come with the teasing. At the very least, you should have a consult so that you can best understand the surgical option, and then make the best decision for your son.