American Society of Plastic Surgeons
For Medical Professionals
 
MALESURGERY
one year ago
Answered

Dog ears

Will this ever go down, or is this permanent? I didn't have this before surgery. 4 months post op.

Procedure: Panniculectomy
Location: Austin, TX

Replies 6

Antonio Conde
ASPS Int. Surgeon

It may go down a bit with time...although it seems that most will remain. But that's something we have to see and touch

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Carlos Quintero
ASPS Int. Surgeon

Hello, as Dr. Conde says in his response, those "dog ears " will look a little better with time ( when the swelling resolves completely ( next months 6+),

In some cases a simple touch up can be be done to treat this, removing the extra tissue that causes the dog ears ( skin mainly).

Hope this info helps

CarlosQuintero, .

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Shana Kalaria
ASPS Surgeon

Some of that may resolve with compression over the next few months. If it does not, it is a simple local procedure to fix. Good luck!

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Richard Bosshardt
ASPS Surgeon

A dogear is the result of closing the skin where the angle of closure is wide and bringing the skin edges together creates a bulge. You can demonstrate this by cutting a wedge out of a piece of paper and bring the two edges toether. The wider the angle of the wedge, the greater the bulge. It is very common after large excisions of skin such as with a panniculectomy or abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). The only way to avoid them is to either make the incision longer, to narrow the angle, or to perform some liposuction at the time of the original surgery. Small dogears often resolve with time. Larger ones, if unsightly, will need correction. I would not recomment a surgical revision sooner than six months after the original surgery. Time is your friend with dogears.

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Alfred Antonetti
ASPS Surgeon

The pictures are not good enough for a good evaluation but I am assuming that you had an abdominoplasty and not much liposuction at all. I could be wrong. The results are limited by the amount of overweigh of the patient and it seems significant here. It does not look like a dog ear to me but as fat collections in the abdomen and flanks. A significant amount of liposuction at the time of surgery can help this but a lot of surgeons do not perform liposuction at the time of abdominoplasty for fear of more complications. Perhaps some liposuction would help now, Discuss with your surgeon.

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Tanongsak Panyawirunroj
ASPS Int. Surgeon
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It will be better when the swelling completely resolves normally 6-12 months after surgery. You can do massage with Radio Frequency machine around your abdomen and waist for more smoother skin and reduce swelling faster.

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