Facial Plastic SurgeryPage Updated:
Our macrotia surgical consultation page was established in an effort to help ear reduction patients make the process as efficient as possible.
As you likely already know, Dr. Hilinski is a very busy, in-demand plastic surgeon with an international reputation who typically books out at least several months in advance. And that is just to have a consultation with him (telehealth or in person) to discuss your potential candidacy for surgery. Once you have waited those several months to consult with Dr. Hilinski and you then decide to proceed with macrotia ear reduction surgery, it may take an additional 2-3 months before you can actually have the procedure performed. In total, this can turn into a 4-6 month long process to have your ears reduced in size.
In order to help expedite this entire process, we have created this online experience for those macrotia patients who are eager to have their surgery performed as soon as possible with Dr. Hilinski. By choosing to have your entire consultation done online, you will likely (not a guarantee) expedite the first step by getting Dr. Hilinski to evaluate your case much faster. If he determines, based on the information provided to him and the subsequent communications, that you are a good candidate for ear reduction surgery, you can simply proceed with booking your surgery with our surgical coordinator – thereby shortening the usual process by several months in many cases.
Some patients do ask if they need to have an in-person consultation with Dr. Hilinski before booking their surgery. The short answer is no. For many years now, Dr. Hilinski has become known as one of very few international experts who have true expertise in making large ears smaller in size. Consequently, he has been conducting online consultations for many years now for all the patients who travel to San Diego from far and wide to have their ear reduction surgery performed. As a true cosmetic ear specialist with vast experience in performing macrotia surgery, Dr. Hilinski can determine very quickly from just looking at you and your ears if he can help make your situation better. In a vast majority of cases, this determination can be accurately made by simply looking at photos of your ears. Therefore, Dr. Hilinski feels quite confident in recommending ear reduction surgery by thoroughly reviewing your photos alone. Obviously, he will ultimately see you on the day of the actual surgery and take a close in-person look at your ears. But by that point, Dr Hilinski already has a very clear idea of what he plans on doing to your ears to make them smaller in size.
If you happen to be a patient who feels more comfortable having Dr. Hilinski see you in person before deciding on having ear reduction surgery, do NOT proceed with this online consultation process. You will, instead, have to contact the office by phone and schedule a consultation in the more traditional manner.
Online Macrotia Information
Before proceeding with our macrotia consultation process, we do recommend that patients first get very familiar with this specific cosmetic ear issue and the corrective surgery to fix it by visiting our online resources dedicated to this exact procedure. This includes the following links:
Macrotia Ear Reduction on DrHilinski.com
Once you have read all of this information and feel confident this surgery is something you would like to have done, you can then proceed with the online macrotia consultation process below.
Online Macrotia Consultation
Our macrotia surgical consultation is done entirely online and includes a number of required steps. Please do NOT ask for any exceptions to these required steps as they will not be granted. If you do not wish to follow the required steps, you can instead opt to call the office and schedule a consultation in the more traditional manner.
PatientNow Registration
In order to initiate the macrotia consultation, you must first successfully complete our online patient registration. This involves visiting our electronic medical record portal, called the PatientNow portal. The information requested must be provided as completely as possible. This will include you providing our office with a complete demographic profile as well as your detailed medical history. Once your individual patient profile has been successfully completed, you can then proceed as noted below.
Of note, if you attempt to short-cut the process without completing the PatientNow portal, you will NOT get a response from Dr. Hilinski. We will cross-reference your PatientNow portal to confirm that your patient profile is active and complete before responding to the online form submission below.
Upon visiting the portal make sure to select the blue ‘Register’ option. Of note, you must sign the required consent forms – which include HIPAA and Email and Text consents. You will see a variety of other consent forms in the portal, which are optional. These other forms should only be signed if they are relevant to your upcoming office treatment and/or surgery.
Online Form Submission
Please use the form below to provide Dr. Hilinski with the necessary information he needs in determining your candidacy for cosmetic ear reduction surgery.
Past Ear Surgery
Nearly 25% of Dr. Hilinski’s macrotia ear reduction patients have had past ear surgery – and are still unhappy with the way their ears look. This predominantly involves patients who have had prior otoplasty, or ear pinning, and still feel as if their ears look too large. In so many of these cases, it is because the ear actually is still too large! Otoplasty (which Dr. Hilinski also does very regularly) only pins the ear closer to the side of the head. It won’t create a smaller ear, which is really what is needed in so many instances. The reason this matters to Dr. Hilinski is because patients who have had prior cosmetic ear surgery, like otoplasty, tend to have distorted anatomy from the previous surgery as well as denser scarring. Both of these can make macrotia ear reduction surgery more challenging in terms of the technical aspects of the procedure in addition to achieving a successful outcome.
If you have had other types of cosmetic ear surgery, such as earlobe reduction, gauge repair, or other, please indicate this on the form below.
If you have had no prior cosmetic ear surgery, please simply type NA.
Desires for Smaller Ears
Please explain to Dr. Hilinski what your desires are when it comes to getting your ears made smaller in size. In short, why are you pursing this particular surgery? For instance, some patients will note that they dislike how their ears appear to extend too far upwards and/or back. Others will simply state their ears appear too large for their face and head. Still others will mention how the shape of their ears bothers them – and how they would like to have an ear that has a more natural curvature.
If you would like your earlobes also reduced in size, please indicate your desire to do so.
Photos of Your Ears
You must provide Dr. Hilinski with five (5) different views of your ears, which include the following:
- Right Profile
- Right 45 Degree
- Frontal
- Left 45 Degree
- Left Profile
The photos should all be taken with a uniform colored background or backdrop. Lighting should be sufficient to readily show your anatomical details. Do not take the photos while looking into the lighting source – meaning the lighting should be directed from behind the camera lens.
Pay close attention to these two variables when taking your consultation photos – (1) camera angle and zoom and (2) head positioning.
Camera angle and zoom – make sure to take the photos with the camera being on the same level with your ears and parallel with the ground. Do NOT take photos with the camera angled or pointed up or down. The camera zoom should be adjusted so that it captures your ears in context with your face in each photo. Do NOT take photos that zoom in only on your ears.
Head positioning – your head should be positioned so that it is in a neutral position. Do NOT lift your chin or drop your chin. A good rule of thumb is shown in the photo diagram below where the frontal photo shows an imaginary horizontal line drawn across the eyes to roughly where the top of the ear attaches to the face. Stay consistent and keep your head positioned in this manner while taking the photos from the various angles.
Please submit all required information using the form below.
Dr. John Hilinski has either authored or reviewed and approved this content.
