EarBuddies were invented in 1990 by Plastic Surgeon David Gault FRCS, one of the world’s leading experts on reconstructive surgery of the outer ear, to treat his newborn son. EarBuddies are designed to be fitted at home by parents, and are also used in some of the most eminent children’s hospitals worldwide, including the NHS (UK), Mayo Clinic (USA), The Portland Hospital (London), and Boston Children’s Hospital (Harvard).
By treating babies early and avoiding surgery, EarBuddies provide better results, without risk, at lower cost, and avoid the bullying and psychological trauma that usually leads to surgery. Almost thirty years after EarBuddies were first developed, it is the world’s best selling Early Ear Correction™ system, and has helped thousands of babies to grow up comfortable and confident with their ears.
Stick-out ears like Santi's can make life miserable and lead to "reduced quality of life & self-esteem, social avoidance and poor performance in school." Children and adults are often teased and while names like 'Dumbo, Big Ears, Yoda, Spock & Wing Nut' can be meant in jest, they can have a deeper psychological impact.
Once, corrective ear surgery (Otoplasty/ Pinnaplasty) was the only option, costing up to £5000 for the average UK paediatric case. General anaesthesia and time off school or work are usually needed, and while post-op pain can be managed*, complication rates e.g. scarring can be as high as 10%.*
Now there's an ingenious way to fix your baby's ear problems before they are aware of them, avoiding the emotional impact of bullying & teasing, and the costs & complications of surgery. EarBuddies splints reshape the soft cartilage of baby's ears, resulting in a permanent, surgery-free correction.
We think of it like fitting braces to a child’s teeth, only more affordable and quicker. Newborn babies can get great results in just 2 weeks. If your baby is older, this can take longer. Santi was 5 months old when his mother fitted EarBuddies. 4 weeks later, he can grow up comfortable and confident with his ears.
“When Remy was born his ears were folded up at the bottom. The doctors told me they would ‘right’ themselves but as time went on and Remy was sleeping they were folding over and were getting worse. He has little ears but they were just growing like little cups! I researched what I could do for them and stumbled across EarBuddies. I wish I had found them earlier but was just so pleased I had an option to try before he got too big.
We started Remy’s ear journey at 6 months and 1 day old. As you can see from the pictures, his ears are so much better. I am so happy I found EarBuddies. It’s such a shame not many people know about them, no one I’ve spoken to knows about them and they are just fantastic. Thank you from a very happy mummy and daddy. I can’t wait to show Remy when he’s older and I’m sure he will thank us for putting him through 5 months of tapes when he sees the before photos!”
Lisa, Ben & their Son Remy - Staffordshire, UK
Read Lisa's full story here!"My husband did countless hours of research and read numerous success stories on the EarBuddies. Even finding ears that looked very similar to Bronny’s. We sat down one night and weighed out all of our options and quickly came to the determination to give EarBuddies a shot. Between the low price point, countless success stories and alternative option to surgery, we figured that we had nothing to lose. If they helped the reconstruction even a little bit, we felt that would be a big success.
The EarBuddies came in a very reasonable amount of time. We started the splinting process almost instantly. We’re 3 weeks in and we couldn’t be happier. In fact, I have shared photos with my family and friends and they don’t believe it is the same ear. Absolutely incredible and it has left Jake and I speechless.We typically have kept the splints in for 7-10 days before switching the tape and re-adjusting the EarBuddy. Each time we’ve switched out the tape, we cannot believe what we see. Only three weeks in, we cannot wait to see the final product. Updates to come soon."
Read Bronny's full story here!“We tried to manage our expectations as Yvette’s ear did look worse than many of the other examples on the website. After a week and a half the tape was looking pretty dog-eared and tatty so we decided to remove it and reapply. We were stunned with the results! The ‘Bar’ was entirely gone and her ear looked normal. We really couldn’t believe how successful it had been in such a short space of time. After taking progress photos we reapplied the splint, this time putting more focus on rounding the shape of the ear. A week later, Yvette not even 4 weeks old, we have taken off splint and are so pleased with the result.
We are so glad we just sorted this ourselves rather than wait and go down the referral route. An inexpensive solution has offered a surgery-free alternative for our daughter which may save her years of bullying and torment in the future. We would definitely recommend this to others."
Liza, Oli & their Daughter Yvette - Lincolnshire, UK
Read Liza's Story HereAt least 5% of people have abnormally shaped or Stick-Out ears. Stick-Out ears are the most common ear deformity, and around 2% of babies develop Stick-Out ears in the first 6 months of life. EarBuddies can be fitted by parents at home in under 20 minutes. An independent study at the Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow in 2012 showed a 78% success rate in newborns when splints are fitted by parents, with 73% rating ease of use as 'easy' or 'incredibly easy'. With early splintage and dedication, fantastic results continue to be achieved by parents at home.
When your baby is born, the cartilage framework of the ears is extremely soft because of Mum’s hormones. Some squashing of the ears is natural at birth, but if the ears remain an odd shape after 48 hours, or if they start to stick out, this will quite quickly become permanent as the cartilage hardens. EarBuddies splints re-mould the cartilage folds in a baby's ears to restore the natural curves and hold the ear close to the side of the head so that when the framework hardens in the controlled shape, there is a permanent, surgery-free correction.
While the majority of EarBuddies™ are fitted by parents at home, when professionally fitted and the treatment supervised, success rates rise to up to 92%, even in older babies or those with difficult ear problems.
Professional fitting combines the surgery-free, permanent correction of EarBuddies™ with the clinical experience of trained fitters. Choose amongst our global network of EarBuddies™ Professionals.