Scientists have suggested treating babies’ deformed ears with paper clips. article about it published At The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.
Some babies are born with deformed ears. In some cases this will require surgery, but surgery on babies is best avoided as it poses an added risk.
In this context, Hitomi Matsutani of the University of Tokyo and colleagues tried a non-surgical and inexpensive method of treating ears with a stapler. Between 2010 and 2019, scientists tested this method in 80 ears of 63 patients with an average age of four months. These babies had relatively mild deformities: either cryptothia, where the cartilage of the upper ear was partially hidden under the skin, or a narrowed ear (sometimes called the prominent ear) where the upper part of the ear was folded.
Plastic surgeons have created special splints made of paperclips, curved into the shape needed to guide the growth of ear cartilage. After this metal frame was placed on the body with a cotton pad to protect the skin, a thermoplastic resin mold was formed around the ear to further enlarge it. A splint was always worn outside of the bathroom.
In addition to improving the appearance of the ears, this technique focused on shaping the space between the top of the ear and the head, the “auriculocephalic sulcus,” an important structure for a variety of purposes including wearing glasses and a face mask.
The effect of such a tire appeared in a few weeks. The doctors then took pictures of the ears and showed them to independent plastic surgeons, who rated the pictures as “excellent” in 36.5% of cases and “satisfactory” in 73.0% of cases.
It is worth noting that, despite the possibility of using improvised means for making a splint, only qualified surgeons should wear it.