After facelift procedure (1 year ago) I immediately noticed problems on one side of my face. One ear was placed high/back and the ear lobe was shortened--cut off by a suture. I'm afraid corrective surgery to reposition the ear will shorten the ear further, but the asymmetry is disturbing. My surgeon acknowledged the problem initially but seems reluctant to correct it now. Any suggestions?
A year is plenty of time to allow for settling and postoperative change to occur. I would present the issue to your surgeon again, and explore the reluctance to correct things. If your surgeon does not feel capable or prepared to address the issue surgically, perhaps you could seek a second opinion?
Jonathan Zelken MD
Since the appearance was immediate it's likely a technical issue rather than subsequent scar formation. Most commonly this is a pixie ear where there is no free lower portion of earlobe unattached to the side of the head due to suture placement of skin pull. It's common enough after face lift surgery that there are reports of it's correction going back 30+ years. A few corrective procedures performed under local anesthesia are available to correct the problem and your original surgeon should certainly be capable of performing them. A year is sufficient time to allow for such correction. Never having seen you or pictures of you I am assuming the problem is pixie ear as that is a common problem after facelift surgery. This assessment does not apply if the condition is not pixie ear.
You need to know and understand the reluctance of your surgeon. Probably he or she doesn't want to make the problem worse. If the explanation doesn't make sense then seek another opinion.
Seek out a second opinion so that you can get the best, impartial advice.
After one year I would check for a second opinion, there is always some room for improvement.