People throughout the world are fighting microtia. Consider a recent article for the Worthing Herald titled “Raffle raising awareness of rare condition.”
According to the author of the article, “Kerry Darlington, one of the UK’s leading contemporary artists, has donated a £350 Alice Sculpture and Anthony David Coppard has given an elephant painting worth about £600. They will be two of nearly 50 prizes in the raffle being held on Sunday, March 6, at Elim Church, which meets at St Paul’s Centre, in Chapel Road, Worthing. Eight-year-old Taylor Mackrell, a pupil at Thomas A’Becket Junior School in Tarring, has microtia, a congenital deformity which means little or no ear, on his left side. His father and step-mother, Matthew and Angie Mackrell, of Boxgrove, Goring, have organised the raffle and a cake sale to raise money for two charities that have helped them. Matthew said: ‘We would love to raise £1,000 – £500 for Great Ormond Street and £500 for Microtia UK. Without people like us trying to make a difference, people like that will struggle.’ Angie said it was also about raising awareness of Microtia UK, because it is such a small charity. ‘You ask people about it and they haven’t heard of it so it is about trying to raise awareness,’ she added.”
The Korea Times also takes a look at microtia in a recent article titled “Sculpting ears for children with deformities.” Jung Min-ho and Kim Eil-chul of the Korea Times writes, “We take many things for granted ― like having two regular ears. But one out of every 7,000 babies is born with microtia, a congenital malformation in which the pinna (external ear) is underdeveloped. Some babies are born with anotia, a congenital malformation in which the pinna is completely missing. Children with microtia may have a hearing impairment, albeit in most cases, the impairment is not serious. A bigger challenge for them rather is the psychological problems associated with having a physical deformity, according to Park Chul, director of the Seoul Center for Developmental Ear Anomalies at Korea University Anam Hospital. ‘The reason they want surgery is to feel complete as a person. It is not about mitigating a physical inconvenience,’ Park, 67, said in an interview. ‘Most children with microtia do not have hearing difficulties because they still have one good ear as well as the microtia-affected ear that works to a certain extent.’ Microtia, which is much more common than anotia, can affect one or both ears but mostly affects only the right ear. The condition is about twice as common in boys than girls.”
If you are considering microtia ear surgery for your child, you need a surgeon you can trust. Rex E. Moulton Barrett, M.D. is internationally known and acknowledged. He is board certified with The American Board of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and The American Board of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
Following microtia ear surgery with Dr. Moulton-Barrett, patients will go home the same day as the procedure, with antibiotics. Pain medications will be provided. We place an ear dressing for three days and remove the sutures approximately 10 days after surgery. We restrict contact sports for about 3 to 4 weeks and you can begin washing the hair after a few days from the surgery, but make sure to keep the ear dry. The sutures will be removed a couple of months later.
For more information, contact us for a consultation.