Otoplasty can be cosmetic or reconstructive. The ear may not form correctly. This can produce issues from an unusually shaped ear to an ear that never formed correctly, a condition known as microtia. Microtia is associated with other defects of the ear structure and is an area of treatment all to itself.
Newborns sometimes have issues with their ears when the cartilage has not "firmed up" at birth and they exhibit "floppy ears" or "folded ears". Other conditions include Stahl's ear and cup ear deformity as well as others.
Baby's ear cartilage is affected by high maternal hormones and the ears may remain soft and easily deformable. There are now treatments based on simply splinting the ears for the first few weeks of baby's life until the hormones stabilize and the cartilage firms up. Once the cartilage has firmed up splinting will probably not work and surgery may be the only option. Also sprinting may not always produce the optimum results.
