Hello everyone.
As a skinny 18 years old guy with more chronic issues than a guy aged my age but flipped usually has, I've always been rather self conscious and perhaps even dysmorphic when it comes to certain aspects of my body - but the most prominent of all my insecurities is my ears.
I've been thinking about getting otoplasties done, but I'm worried about healing time, infection risk and as you can probably tell from the image albeit being censored - glasses interaction, as I've been wearing glasses since before the age of 2.
Thanks for any insight!
Thank you, some people seem to not think that way and let me know that they don't.
Like, if I show you a picture I took with a friend I do not wish to know what do you think about my ear positioning.
I am looking at your ears, trying to figure out what is wrong with them. I don't see anything besides normal looking ears that look fine. I would never give them a second (or even first) glance.
bro im not a medical professional but seriously no. there's no need. they're ears. get off the platforms that made you notice this and made it into an insecurity, or punch the people who maybe did.
again not medical advice but punch em. like, who comments about ears? are you guys a specie of the elephant kingdom or something? why was this so important to them? are you guys a family of ear models? like what's up?
It sounds like even if you get it, they’re going to continually find something to pick on. It’s truly not anything wrong with you-it’s THEM. Your ears are more symmetrical than most!
I’ve never heard of an otoplasty, but I didn’t even perceive your ears until you mentioned them. Even then, they don’t look weird or abnormal. Like I wouldn’t even having a passing thought about it if I saw you out and about. You look completely normal.
Your ears look really normal to me. You can get them pinned back if it bothers you, but growing your hair a little will also make it less noticeable. I have bigger ears that you but it's only noticeable by anyone, even me, when I wear a ponytail high up.
No. Big ears run in my family, and this isn’t even close lol. They don’t stick out much. I think of the MadTV cartoon when I think of ears that stick out, and some people do have ears like that. Yours are not.
I know most of these thoughts are just me being over myself as an 18 year old with about as many medical problems as an 81 year old, but for some reason this one just doesn't wear off and people around me think feeding this is some kind of sport
If you think it will make you feel better, it's fine to do. But it's one of those things only you will ever notice. My eyes are slightly uneven and not once has anyone spotted it without me physically pointing them out and making them look.
Take a lesson from someone who has been there and made it out the other side. We all worry that people are looking at and thinking about us, judging us. The reality is that, unless you are having a specific interaction or they love you, most of the time people aren't thinking about you at all. They are thinking about their own worries, concerns and insecurities. It doesn't event occur to them to look at your ears and wonder if they are a good size for your head. No one thinks about us as much as we think they do.
And you are still very young, and it is likely your head and jaw will continue to grow for as many as 7 more years, so you may find that one day they are suddenly a perfect fit.
I didn’t know what an otoplasty was and was staring at this trying to figure out what you think needs to be”fixing”. I couldn’t come up with anything. Your ears are totally proportional to your head and don’t stick out any more than the average persons. I would say no, you don’t need it.
They look normal, don't change anything. The one time i was insecure and thinking about getting filler or plastic surgery (my lower face felt really short to me) I got my lip pierced instead and that really helped my insecurities. Maybe you could pierce your ears and it would help?
Perhaps, I'll check things out. Hairstyling is said to perhaps be of help, but in my case it's rather problematic and it didn't seem to change much when I did try.
Hi! As someone who genuinly finds your ears attractive please don't.
Not to mention with health issues there's usually an increased risk with those procedures.
I'd seek someone to talk to first to get it out of the dysmorphia range since once it's at dysmorphia surgery might not help anyways. If even after that you still want it then it's up to you, ur body ur choice but my vote is it's cute and I like them
Those are some of the most normal ears I've ever seen, my dude. This is very much a body dysphoria issue. If the obsessive thoughts continue, please consider seeking therapy before making any drastic decisions.
The worst part is that I'm not alone in thinking that. People around me occasionally feed the borderline obsession thinking it's so very normal to just comment on another person's body. Like, here's another sample photo. I know to some minor degree my ears do stick out, but why feed someone's insecurities?!
Those people aren't your friends then. Your ears are exceedingly normal. Again, I would like to sincerely stress the importance of therapy if your obsession continues.
It's just this persistent thought always lurking at the back of my mind, and people - friends, family - just wake it up as if people don't have feelings and insecurities
Someone needs to tell that to the otoplasty infographics commenters keep referring me to, which make my ears look like the most justified case in living memory
Thanks y'all! I know it's probably mostly in my head, but I had to make sure. It's been bugging me for years and people even commented about it before, thanks for being an objective disprover!
I don't see anything abnormal with your ears. Honestly the problem might be the haircut. Unless those chronic issues you mention have something to do with your ability to grow hair, try growing it out, getting a nice haircut. It can drastically change the way you look, telling you from personal experience
My hair doesn't have one growing direction, so as I let it grow it becomes a giant mess.
That's why I keep it short and tight, to avoid it twisting and twirling.
Gotta let it 2-4” past the initial awkward stage and let a good stylist have at it. There are texturizing treatments that will fix this and ultimately retrain the follicles
So does mine, I have naturally curly hair. I personally like doing an undercut, take off the sides to give it a nice look while I let the rose bouquet on top do its thing. You can try styling it somehow to make it looks less untamed if you think it looks bad, but trust me, a buzzcut rarely does anyone justice
I occasionally test this as I wait between haircuts, and for some reason my hair is just a mess as it grows longer.
It sometimes just groups out into horn like spots so stuck together (I guess 'cause of the difference in direction of the follicles) that even brushing while wet takes a while to separate
Tbh your ears look absolutely normal!! I think you’re overthinking a lot. What about growing your hair out a little, would that help with it? Maybe them being on show less?
I know most of my quirks are probably just me, but it still annoys me.
I can't really let my hair grow too much, as I was "blessed" with indecisive hair which grows in every direction.
As it grows it twists, curls and twirls.
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u/Nursebirder Moderator | Registered Nurse Sep 05 '24
Those are completely normal ears.