Question:
Our 14 year old son wants to have otoplasty surgery. He plays hockey so I’m wondering how long he will have to wait post-op before he is able to safely play the sport again, and wear his helmet. What is your opinion?
Answer:
For a 14 year-old who is interested in otoplasty, typically for the first week we ask patients to wear a ski band and refrain from physical activities. If your son plays hockey aggressively, we would allow him to return to his game in two weeks. He should be fairly well protected playing hockey with a helmet, although we would encourage him to wear a ski band over his ears while he is playing and at night for six weeks. It is important to realize that anyone aggressively playing any sport could injure himself whether they have or have not had surgery in any particular area. For example, if someone has had an otoplasty or rhinoplasty, we would allow them to return to sports in three weeks but if they had severe trauma to that area it could adversely affect that area. Unfortunately, this is just the risk involved in being physically active and, of course, this would need to be discussed with the patient.
About the Author: Dr. Edwin Williams
Dr. Edwin Williams is a double board-certified facial plastic surgeon who founded The Williams Center in 1993. He has performed over 10,000 facial plastic surgery procedures and has pioneered the deep plane facelift. He served on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery for over a decade, and served as President from 2015-2016. In 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, Dr. Williams earned the Castle Connelly Top Doctors award in New York Facial Plastic Surgery.
Dr. Edwin F. Williams III attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1982. He began medical school at the State University of Buffalo School of Medicine and received his Doctor of Medicine in 1986.
Dr. Williams is actively involved in teaching facial plastic and reconstruction surgery to the residents of the Albany Medical Center and is former Chief of the Section of Facial and Plastic Reconstruction Surgery at Albany Medical Center where he received an academic appointment of Clinical Professor, Department of Surgery.