However, the girl’s mother started to be alarmed when she caught her trying to staple her ears.  That’s when she decided to consult a facial plastic surgeon.

In November 2011, the girl had otoplasty in which her ears were pinned back to make them look smaller and in harmony with her face.  Just after the procedure, her self-esteem has improved dramatically and the bullying has stop—of course it all happened after the school authorities had intervened.

While her story has a happy ending, it is important to remember that plastic surgery is not a quick fix to everything although it can prevent or at least heal emotional scars caused by teasing and name-calling.  For this reason, some doctors even recommend “intervention” while the patient is still young.

Otoplasty is particularly ideal for children, although adults can also have this procedure.  However, one consideration to make is that older patients’ cartilage is less flexible than kids, making the procedure more challenging to perform.

As much as possible, the request to have otoplasty should come from children themselves.  It should not be forced upon them because not all kids are bothered with their appearance; in fact, I’ve known someone who can deal with teasing that her bullies were the ones who ended up crying.

However, severe deformities caused by accidents or congenital abnormalities should be addressed as soon as possible in order to improve body function, achieve a more normal appearance, and allow the patients live a normal life.

While reconstructive plastic surgeries can be performed at any age, this is not the case in cosmetic procedures in which the sole purpose is to improve one’s appearance.  First and foremost, these require both emotional and physical maturity to achieve the best result possible.

For instance, cosmetic breast augmentation cannot be performed on patients younger than 18.  Unlike otoplasty which is a relatively simple procedure, this is a major surgery that involves potential risks—something which may not be fully understood by children and teenagers.

As mentioned earlier, plastic surgery cannot solve all our problems or prevent bullies from making harsh remarks.  But if performed to the right candidate, this can have a positive impact on one’s self-esteem and body image.

These are the aesthetic problems which can be treated with otoplasty plastic surgery: macrotia or overly enlarged ears; microtia which is a congenital defect where the outer ear is severely disfigured; and protruding ear which may occur on one or both sides in varying degree.

In some cases, this procedure is performed not just for cosmetic reasons but also to improve a patient’s hearing.  With this, some insurance providers might cover the cost of this treatment particularly if it is considered as “medically” necessary.

Plastic surgeons can perform otoplasty on children as young as five years old or as long as their cartilage is stable enough to retain the result of the procedure.  Most experts believe that it is easier to reshape, pin back, and change the appearance of children’s ears compared to adults whose fully developed ears have a firmer cartilage which is difficult to mold.

Performing this procedure at an early age may also provide children with psychological benefits particularly if they are suffering from teasing and name-calling from their peers.

However, most plastic surgery specialists believe that the desire for this procedure, especially if performed for aesthetic rather than reconstructive reasons, should come from children rather than their parents.  This is because some kids are really not bothered with the way they look or care on the teasing.

Meanwhile, plastic surgeons perform the procedure under local anesthesia, intravenous sedation, or general anesthesia that will provide comfort to their patients.  And once the drug takes effect, they will create incisions which are usually placed on the back surface of the ears or along the natural creases of the skin to hide the scars.  And with the ears positioned closer to the head, the surgical lines are unnoticeable.

Through the incisions, plastic surgeons can put internal sutures in order to create and/or support the newly shaped cartilage in place.

Once the necessary changes have been made, they will close the incisions using external stitches.  This is carefully done to preserve the other structures and avoid the unnatural “pinned back” look.

Usually, otoplasty provides an immediate result especially for patients with protruding ears.  However, they have to keep the dressings for several weeks to support the new shape during the initial phase of recovery.

For example, otoplasty which is a plastic surgery used to pin back the ears can be performed on patients as young as five.  Ideally, this procedure is conducted on children and teenagers because their tissue is easier to work with compared to adults.  But still, some patients choose to have this procedure in later years.

In case the ears of a child are extremely deformed, his parents can decide on his behalf.  But in the situation of a mild aesthetic problem, most plastic surgeons believe that it is better for parents to wait for their kids to ask for any medical intervention since not all them are bothered with their appearance.

To know if a teenager is a good candidate for plastic surgery, doctors not just perform physical examination (to determine the health status) but also discussion to explain the benefit and limitations of a certain procedure.  It is important to note that a good candidate should have realistic goals and expectations which can determine if he will be satisfied with the result.

During the discussion, plastic surgeons will also examine if their teenage patients have enough maturity that will help them cope with the temporary discomfort and downtime after a surgical procedure.  In general, cosmetic surgery is not recommended for patients who have erratic behavior, extreme mood swings, mental illness, and clinical depression.

Aside from having a stable mental and emotional health, teenage patients should also reach a certain age before they can receive a procedure, especially if performed for aesthetic reasons.  For example, cosmetic rhinoplasty (“nose job”) is only ideal for individuals who are at least 14 or 15 years old (or slightly older for male) to make sure that the result will not be affected by the physical changes in later years.

If this procedure is performed below the age limit, patients may need a revision rhinoplasty.  However, most plastic surgeons do not follow this age requirement if the surgery is going to be performed as a way to reconstruct the nose after an injury or treat breathing problems due to abnormal growth and birth defects.

Writing in the February, 2009, issue of the Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery, a professional magazine for cosmetic plastic surgeons in the British Isles, two plastic surgeon staffers at University Hospital of North Staffordshire in England studied 101 ear pinning patients.

The subjects ranged in age from 5 to 16 and were asked how otoplasty affected their lives.

Results?

• 100 percent reported no more bullying
• 97 percent said they were happier
• 92 percent had more self-confidence

The study was important for plastic surgery patients and surgeons, parents and other taxpayers because the National Health Service (NHS) in England sometimes pays for cosmetic plastic surgery to stop childhood bullying . (Read more about the otoplasty for children study.)

But, cosmetic plastic surgery to stop bullying in the United Kingdom (U.K.) is nothing new where teasing, taunting and bullying are taken very seriously.

Recently, the Mr. Douglas McGeorge, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) told how child bullying victims have also been given rhinoplasty and breast augmentation to stop teasing and bullying about appearance.

Usually, U.K. plastic surgery clinics don’t perform surgery on anyone under 18, but the exceptions are made for children who have changed schools several times and are pummeled due to some physical mar. (Read more from a British newspaper about anti-bully plastic surgery.)

When a girl as young  as 14 has breast augmentation, according to Mr. McGeorge, they are given expandable breast implants. (English physicians are called “Mr.”)

Expandable breast implants can grow with a maturing lass because more saline can be added to the implants without another operation to  remove them. (More about expandable breast implants.)

Yet another case of a nine-year-old with a huge mole on his face gained nationwide news coverage in 2007. The child was often beaten up, taunted about his appearance and had changed schools three times to get away from the torment.

Statistics from BAAPS reveals that teens having breast enlargement in the U.K. increased by about 150 percent in the past year.

Do you think the United States should take bullying as seriously as they do in the UK?

• Extraordinary good looks
• Chiseled, perfect facial features
• Ultra -toned bodies
• Flawless complexions

No, not a model’s convention or even looking through the books of plastic surgery before and after pictures in a surgeon’s office.

You are probably at the movies!

Beverly Hills is often regarded as the world Mecca of plastic surgery because it sits cheek-by-jowl with the U.S. entertainment industry.

You know, Tinsel Town!

Even less than perfect celebrity plastic surgery has found a marketplace in tabloids of the world, with websites and magazines showing graphic pictures when plastic surgery goes wrong on the world’s most popular faces and bodies.

In an industry where appearance is everything,  Hollywood Knives, a major documentary on BBC1 (British Broadcasting Corporation Channel 1) dug behind the scenes, interviewed top plastic surgeons, former spouses of stars and others to reveal what plastic surgeries major movie performers have had.

What did they find?

• Screen legend Marilyn Monroe had a chin implant after a photographer  called her a “chinless wonder.” Two weeks later, she got her first movie roll.
• Rita Hayworth had a full face lift in the 1960s, just as she was starting to show the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease.
• Clark Gable had ear pinning (otoplasty) and his teeth fixed.
• Burt Lancaster had a facelift.
• Dean Martin had rhinoplasty to make his nose straighter and narrower.
• Gary Cooper had a face lift and a double chin slimmed through neck surgery at age 53.
• John Wayne: neck surgery, face lift and upper eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty), also in his 50s.
• Frank Sinatra, born in a forceps delivery that caused scarring on his neck and removed part of his left earlobe, had the scars removed in his 60s, along with a facelift and jowl surgery.

NEXT: How Hollywood Stars have Plastic Surgery in Secret!

Fans were delighted when top NASCAR driver Kurt Bush decided to have otoplasty, the plastic surgery procedure that brings prominent, outstanding ears closer to the patient’s skull. The procedure is also known as “ear pinning.”

(Look at Busch’s ear pinning before and after pictures.)

Just after his procedure, Busch married his long-time girlfriend Eva Bryan.

Cosmetic plastic surgery just before marriage ceremonies is very common because people want to pass down the wedding photos for generations.

But the 30-year-old Busch probably could have had the procedure 24 years ago. Plastic surgeons say that children as young as six can have the procedure.

It’s often done before the child starts school because other children often tease them mercilessly.

About five percent of the population has some form of ears that stick out.

And even though children with large, protruding ears are made miserable in school, most health plans will not pay for the surgery because many insurers consider the procedure strictly cosmetic.

What do you think? Should health plans be required to pay for  otoplasty for children?

Next time: cosmetic surgical procedures that many health plans do pay for.