Congenital ear deformities in infants range from small ears, ears pointed at the top, ears that stick out far from the side of the head, ears that are lopped or whose upper half leans away from the side of the head, ears that are cupped or restricted (bent in the middle so the top and bottom move towards each other away from the side of the head) to absent ears. Historically the treatment for most of these was surgery. Splinting of the ears shortly after birth to reshape the ears so surgery would not be needed later on has been a known entity but the splints had to be made by the doctor and were not reliable. Now we have commercially available Earwell splints that have a more reliable result. The splints are placed preferably within a week or 2 of birth and splinting is continued for 4 to 6 weeks. If started early after birth while the ears are still soft the results can be remarkable and the baby will then not need any ear surgery.

This baby was born with cupped, lopped or constricted ears. Earwell splints were placed at a week and a half after birth. A second set of splints was placed 2 weeks later. After 4 weeks of splinting tape was applied for 2 weeks. This effectively corrected the ear deformity. This treatment is only effective in the first to second month after birth. After that surgery is the only option. As each patient is an individual, different results can be expected in each patient.