For reasons unknown, some fads in cosmetic plastic surgery tend to come, go out of favor and then return some years later.
For instance, we recently told you of a fad for surgically-created facial dimples that seemed to hit about 10 years ago, and was now becoming popular again. (Read the dimples blog post.)
Yet another cosmetic fad requiring the services of a cosmetic surgeon also first hit the headlines a decade ago and was about people requesting Elf-like ears, much like the ones attached to the ever-popular Mr. Spock on Star Trek.
A completed “Elfie”
A decade ago, the rationale for having a cosmetic surgeon carve points to the top tips of your ears was said to be making music more enjoyable by better “focusing” the sounds into your ears. (Really. We’re not making this up!)
Well, focused sounds or not, the fad went away for at least a decade and now has returned, with some interesting differences.
- A wide variety of pointed, Elf Ears are available as rubber slip-ons. Sounds to us like a good way to go.
- More local tattoo and piercing “artists” are performing ear pointing at about $1800 a pop. The procedure involves removing a small wedge at the top of the ears and then suturing the main part of the ear together. This option involves all sorts of sub-issues like:
- Office Sterility
- Pain
- Infection
- Reliability of the work
- If the ears do wind up nicely pointed, patients must become accustomed to constant Spock and Lord of the Rings jokes.
- You’ll be asked to decide from among Troll, Faun, Hobbit and High Elf style ears. Some are more pointed than others. Study up.
- For better results, less chance of turning up with infections and far less pain, you could approach a cosmetic plastic surgeon. Hey, if they can create dimples, why not Elf Ears?
- If you do see a cosmetic surgeon, it’s probably best not to mention the old item about being able to hear music much better. (The surgeon is likely to refer you to a mental health professional.)
- In your travels and social circles, appreciate the fact that some are born with elf-like, pointed ears. Loving parents then have the ears repaired – by an actual surgeon, not a tattoo artist. But with pointed ears, you’ve basically acquired something that amounts to a rare birth defect. Don’t expect much admiration.
- One Elf Ear carver says he learned to create pointed Elf Ears from an Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon. That carver also learned that 40 percent of Elf Ear seekers don’t have the right type of cartilage to perform the modification.
- Despite all that, doctors warn that sculpting ear cartilage can lead to ear deformities and dangerous infections that can destroy ears altogether.
