"At my daughter's 2 month well-check appointment, I mentioned the deformed cartilage on her right ear to her pediatrician. I told her I wouldn't want to do surgery to fix it because it's just cosmetic, but then she told me about a product called EarBuddies they recommend. After the appointment, I went home and researched and noticed it's from the UK. After seeing the price, I tried to find any sort of knock-off products from here in the US because I couldn't believe with all the success stories and how simple the device looked, that nobody had come up with it sooner. There wasn't anything else.
I emailed the pediatrician and told her I was wary of trying it because it looked difficult to fit and I was worried I'd make it worse if I fit it wrong. She told me she's seen a few success stories personally and the surgeons recommend it as an early intervention too. I discussed it with my husband and we decided that the deformity could cause our daughter to have self esteem issues or be teased when she's older and it was worth the risk to try it now, rather than a painful and expensive surgery later in life. If EarBuddies didn't work, we would feel better that we at least tried, than not tried at all.
Well, it's only been 3 weeks so far, we started splinting at 3 months old, and ITS WORKING! When we take off the splint, her ear looks normal! Attached are progression shots of before splinting, 1 week of splinting, and 3 weeks of splinting. The other picture is another angle of before splinting and now at 3 weeks. The instructions are very clear on fitting the splint and gets it easier with time (as easy as it can with a wiggly baby).
Thank you EarBuddies for creating a product that allows children to avoid surgery and self esteem issues later in life! My daughter will be as grateful as we are."
Follow up - February 2019
"I would just like to say THANK YOU again for your product. We won the March 2018 Ear of the Month and finished splinting in June 2018. My daughter is now 14 months old and I am constantly looking at how perfect her ear looks. Thank you for saving her possible embarrassment later in life!!!"
Erica has posted further FaceBook updates here:
