Macrotia

Terminology:

The word macrotia is made up of the Greek makro (Greek for large) and the Greek word ous, ot for ear. word ous, ot for ear.

What is a macrotia?

Macrotia refers to ears that are larger than the norm. Like protruding ears, Darwin’s humps, cup ears and others, it is one of the malformations of the outer ear. The transitions to normal size are fluid. The norm for ear size depends on gender and body size. It is also subject to ethnic differences. Nevertheless, there are numerical values that define a certain average as the normal size. Even in tall people, a vertical axial length of 70 mm is considered macrotia.

If the macrotia is very pronounced, the ear can extend from the eyebrow line to the level of the lower lip. In most cases, the earlobes are also enlarged. As the ears grow throughout life, macrotia becomes even more pronounced with age. Teasing because of large ears is much rarer than with protruding ears, which is why the corresponding corrective surgery is rarely performed.

Correction of macrotia

The options for ear reduction are varied and depend in particular on the shape of the ear. The operation can be combined with ear correction for protruding ears or earlobe correction. A local anaesthetic is generally sufficient, but this can be supplemented with twilight sleep.

You can find more details on corrective surgery for macrotia in the article on ear reduction.