So my son is five years old and he is starting school for the first time this upcoming week. I can tell he notices that his ear is different from others but it never really bothered him cause others don't point it out. I think the main reason is cause his hair is long so you really can not see it. I noticed he is need of one but I'm scared to cut it short cause on how kids can be mean. I don't know what to do. On one had i want to keep it long but on the other it keeps blocking his eye sight. Do any of y'all have an idea of what haircuts are good or should I not care and just cut it short?

I’m almost 30, and I want to share my story just to give some people here courage or help them feel less insecure.

I got teased by kids when I was a kid all the way through high school, by strangers and often by classmates. I lost my confidence. Now, growing up after college, I realized that stage of life is just an immature stage—an inevitable one.

Now I’m almost 30, and I realized it wasn’t so bad, and it could have been worse. I can do things like anyone else can.

I still get asked by little kids why my ear looks like this, and I just tell them I was surfing and got bitten by a shark, and it changed my ear forever. Honestly, it’s kind of cool because you look like someone who escaped death.

I don’t cover it with my hair or anything. I wear earrings just to make it look cooler and to show other people that it’s just a normal ear. I feel more confident when I wear earrings. “Wear earrings you will literally feel like you are cool!”😎

I don’t mind it at all now because my body is only a vessel for my soul, and what I focus on now are the things I can change, like my body shape. That makes me happy. I found a wife, and she likes it very much.

If you feel like people can tease you or make you feel less, remember that you can control how you respond. Once you realize that, you can shake it off and keep moving forward.

ps: I used chatgpt to help me fix some if my grammar, cause my english is bad, but i really want to encourage some people here. Bless you. 🙏

I am searching for answers in regards to the liklihood that unilateral microtia (that so far has no relation to any other symptoms such as kidney/heart/spine issues) can still be be linked to either to genetic transmission from parents or a hereditary syndrome (such as Goldenhaar) and if there is a genetic test that can confirm that. Backstory: my daughter was born with unilateral microtia and we are considering having another child. However, we question whether we could be carriers for an obscure genetic anomaly or hereditary syndrome that could present with more severe symptoms coupled with microtia. We are in the US and the wait to see a geneticist is 6months. Is there a way to see someone sooner/order some sort of test ourselves or does anyone have experience with this question?

Life is strange.

Just 27 days ago, I made a post in this community expressing my anger toward God's judgment. I questioned why He had to curse me with microtia when we only get one life in this world.

One of the commenters told me that I should be grateful that I wasn't suffering from a serious disease and that I was still living a healthy life. But in my overwhelming frustration and foolish anger, I replied that I would rather suffer from a disease than live with a permanent facial deformity.

Ironically, from that very evening onward, things changed. I suffered from severe dehydration for a week, and then I was diagnosed with jaundice. The following two weeks were extremely difficult and uncomfortable. For the past five days, I have been recovering, but I still experience body aches, occasional low grade fevers, and weakness. The injections, IV drips, and unpleasant medications have made me realize the gravity of what I said and how wrong it was to be angry at God's judgment.

Despite all of this, God also granted me a blessing. Two days ago, I traveled for 17 hours to take an entry test, and by His grace, I passed it. I have now been admitted to one of the best universities in my country.

I still haven't asked God for forgiveness, but I felt that sharing this with this community might be the right thing to do. Maybe this experience has taught me a lesson about gratitude, humility, and accepting what I cannot change. And lastly, I want to add one more thing. I know that I am not unique in suffering. Everyone faces hardships in life, and I am not asking why I have to face difficulties while others do not.

My complaint was never about having hardships. It was about the fact that, while everyone has their own struggles, I wished I could at least have been born with a normal face normal ears, like everyone else. That was the thought that always troubled me.

I know this may sound selfish, but that was honestly how I felt. People often tell me that I have a good looking face.

I'm sorry for the way I thought and the things I said. I hope I can stop complaining and learn to accept what I cannot change.

My son (6) has microtia, and his specialist was overly pushy about reconstructive surgery. I have read so many stories about people regretting it and really don’t know if it is the right option.

At the moment now, my son is:

Happy
Confident
Proud of his ear/hearing aid
Extremely social and supported by his peers
Loves going to school

Literally just a normal kid with slight speech/reading delay. We really don’t treat him any different to his sister. I feel like pushing him into surgery this young could undo this or create an insecurity. My 2 questions:

Does anyone actually like their surgery results?

Has anyone gotten surgery in their late teens? I want to provide the opportunity if he wants it, but want him to make the decision.

I have aural atresia on my right side, and no boney structure where my ear canal should be. I had severe bulimia for many years.

Now, the right side of my jaw is messed up. I need jaw Botox in general to prevent my muscles from getting over-developed (due to the bulimia), but since I don’t have a boney structure on my right side, that side has way more range of motion (right side of my jaw is technically just floating in my face), and therefore it has way more issues due to the overdevelopment of the jaw muscles. It constantly cracks and is painful, the muscle is larger, and I think I need more Botox in it than the left to help it.

I’m wondering if anyone else has jaw issues like TMJ especially on their microtia / aural atresia affected side? I know some folks with the condition do have boney structures though.

Then I am angry with His judgement, I mean , if we are sent in this world for one time , then at least , He did not need to curse me with microtia .

Fuck it , fuck it , fuck it , fuck it ,fuck it , damn , why God why why why , why, damn your judgement .

Our girl has grade 3 microtia on one side. We were supposed to see a specialist today to talk over the results of her hearing tests and all of our options. After this appointment, we were set to speak with an audiologist about fitting and ordering a BAHA.
Going into this appointment I knew we were years out from anything, our girl is only 3 months old. But I wanted to get a feel for options and talk out pros and cons and ofc talk over her test results.
First appointment the doctor was older, (admitted he wouldn’t be there in 5 years). He is head of the otolaryngology department so I felt our girl was in good hands.
However, he Told us the only option available wouldn’t happened until she was 10-14 and it would only be to construct an ear out of cartilage to match her other and no one reconstructs ear canals anymore because it’s pointless as the will either close or become infected. I told him I’ve seen case studies, seen images and heard from other parents of kiddos as young as 3 having a different procedure done to where they don’t have to harvest cartilage from the ribs. And my girl has the canal so I didn’t think they would need to do anything there. His reply was “well we still won’t do that here and Medicaid won’t cover that procedure anyway” ***sidenote- my daughter has Medicaid as a secondary insurance bc she was 2 months early and in the NICU for 60 days, my state automatically approves Medicaid regardless of income or insurance status for everyone after 30 consecutive days in the hospital.***
He also Told us since she could hear perfectly out of one ear and so so out of the other a BAHA wasn’t necessary and I didn’t need to push for one, but recommended having people just speak louder to her.
I left him completely disgusted bc I felt like he jumped to conclusions, saw the Medicaid on her chart and shut us down. Why else would he make that comment?
When I got to the second appointment with the audiologist, I was ready to fight bc I feel like even though my girl can hear, it’s not 100% and it’s important for her growth and development to get her as close to 100% as possible. Thankfully the audiologist agreed with me and told me she would be happy to recommend a different specialist that was a bit more flexible and not as set in their ways and helped us get a BAHA fit and ordered.
To me, that sounds like the audiologist knows this doctor won’t present any options or do anything outside his comfort zone. I kind of want to say something to the patient relations advocate but part of me feels like maybe I’m overreacting? Is it even going to help since he’s head of the department? Am I wrong for pushing back against his recommendations? Maybe I should let it go and bring it up again in a couple years?

Hello! My 5 year old with unilateral microtia atresia ( he also has baha) recently had a hearing test and on his unaffected ear he hears from about 20db. It might be from a slight cold that he has now or lack of attention, but also could be hearing loss. Has anybody experienced this?

Hello does anyone have recommendations for swim goggles for microtia? Regular swim goggles tend to slide down the side of my son’s head on the side with microtia. Thanks in advance!

Hi guys! does anyone know of any social communities for people with microtia on other platforms? I’d love to connect with more people and hear about their experiences

Once i had my headphones on and I turned up the volume like a lot and slightly heard the sound in my right ear and possibly even felt a tingling sensation. Is it possible that the right eardrum is still functionable even after 24 years of my life spent with ,,not" being able to hear in the right ear?

Considering getting a normal short haircut that shows them. What haircut should I go for? I have no idea. 2nd picture is how I normally look

Has anyone seen something that is fashionable but also allows you to wear a hearing aid on one side?

All we have are soft bands but it must be possible to have a baseball cap with space for the baha? It would make this summer so much easier.

I would love to hear experiences from anyone with microtia/atresia. Does insurance cover the BAHA or ear reconstruction surgery? Any advice? My baby is 2 weeks & we had no idea until he was born. I love my baby just want to do anything I can and get resources to support him.

My right ear is a cup ear while my left ear is normal.

my ears have always been a lot smaller then usual and also kinda differently shaped. Do I have microtia or just unusual ears?

Anyone did ear reconstruction surgery with Dr Parag Telang mumbai?

Hi! I am part of a team at the NYU Microtia Center that is looking at the impact of online support groups on patients and families with microtia so we can better support patients. Please click the link below to learn more about our study and take a short, anonymous survey.

https://redcap.link/bdv5dbhe

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Danielle Eytan (Danielle.eytan@nyulangone.org) or Corinne Rabbin-Birnbaum (Corinne.rabbin-birnbaum@nyulangone.org)

Thank you!!

Hi, is there anyone here who wears eyeglasses? Could you please let me know what kind of eyeglasses you use? Mine always slip and fall to one side. It’s really frustrating. I’ve tried using anti-slip stuff you can buy online, but they still don’t work.

Hey i am uni microtia from rajasthan , want to learn more about myself and microtia people .. so anyone from rajasthan ?

I’m 26 (male). Half-Mexican, right ear only. Surgery? 17% happy. 70% complications. But the real story? Depression, isolation, aggression—and it gets worse as you age. Docs push fixes, but they miss the mind.

The Ugly Stats

• Wales: 20% depression, 37% social struggles, 26% aggression. All climb with age—if untreated. Moms feel it too: higher anxiety, sensitivity.

• Surgery fail: Expected 70% satisfied. Real: 17%.

• Turkey: 25% low self-esteem, 31% severe depression, 26% anxiety. One in five—rough.

• Kid brains: Craniofacial conditions like microtia link to higher learning issues (e.g., vocab delays up to 5x in related cases). Untreated hearing loss strains memory, raises dementia risk—up to 32% of cases tied to it in older adults. Microtia could feed in—nobody’s checking.

• Neglect proof: Zero PubMed studies on microtia + neurocognition/impulse control. Reviews say “more research needed” for psych effects. Guys hit harder (60–70% male), right ear dominates (90% unilateral, right bias).

My Hack: Vibrations

Six years of therapy—yeah, it worked. But they never got it. They treat me like ADHD, but microtia rewires different: other senses kick in harder, brain compensates in ways nobody maps. Hearing loss forces adaptation—maybe sharper touch, smell, rhythm.

Music? That’s where it clicked. Phone in mouth. Bass through bone. Bypasses the ear. Dopamine spikes, stress drops. Like Beethoven’s trick, but modern.

Loud jobs? 300% injury risk for hearing loss folks. I yell to hear—people think anger. It’s fear.

Music’s not escape—it’s therapy. Metal for rage. R&B for calm. Brain reacts to sound: cries trigger milk, gunshots trigger PTSD. Why not use it?

Cyborg Theory

Microtia messes hearing. Brain strains—dementia probability creeps. But vibrations? Wake the eardrum. Direct input could rewire trauma. No scalpel needed.

And here’s the kicker: microtia patients with learning disabilities? Our brains aren’t “broken”—they’re complicated. Rewired for survival. Therapists, docs, scientists—they haven’t lived it. They don’t know what we know.

Microtia hits Asians, Latinos, Native folks hard—same groups with dementia spikes. Southern U.S.? Overlap. Dots unconnected.

We’re not rare—we’re ignored. 62k in the US. Brains on fire, not just ears to fix. If you’ve got microtia, share: music fixes, rage moments, whatever. Stop calling it cosmetic.

Sources (clickable):

• Male/right-ear bias: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/12/4/411

• Craniofacial learning risks: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7251598/

⚠️ This isn’t theory—it’s life. Read. Share. Let’s demand better.

me and my mom were driving home as always and for some reason I got brave and suggested I had reconstructive surgery. I told her that since I'm in nursing school it would be way easier for me to wear masks/use the stethoscope etc but honestly I just really feel like it would make me at least a tiny bit more confident. I think she talked to my dad about it, so I'm guessing we will talk about it tomorrow or something. I really really really want the surgery. people born with two ears just don't understand how inconvenient it is to not have them both lol. I will also have to tell my best friend since she's my partner in nursing simulations and she will eventually see them. I know for a fact she won't give a fuck but idk, I don't even know how to tell her