For many adults and children, having large ears leads to ridicule, poor adaptation to school, and/or extreme self-consciousness. Otoplasty is a procedure used to reduce large or protruding ears by setting the ears back closer to the head as well as molding, shaping and/or removing cartilage.

Otoplasty can be performed at any age after the ears have reached (or nearly reached) their full size, which is around 5 to 6 years of age. This surgery is most often performed on children between the ages of 5 and 14.