"When our son was born it became apparent he had a slight ear deformity. His right ear in particular was pointed and slightly folded over but we just assumed it would sort itself out over time.
Unfortunately though it wasn't long before we started to get 'innocent' comments from family and friends. Things such as "aww look at his cute little elf ear" and even comparing our newborn son to Yoda & Dobby! I'm sure no harm was meant but it started to really affect me and I became paranoid about his ear folding when he was held and feeding. I stared to worry about the comments he may get as he gets older and future bullying!! But it was when surgery was mentioned that I decided to Google what options we had. That's when I came across EarBuddies.
Stahl's Bar Deformity at birth
After thoroughly reading the website, I was keen to give it a go. I was initially scared by what others might think and my husband took a little talking round, but the whole family has been amazed how well it's worked and I'm so glad we decided to give EarBuddies a try. I decided to be honest when questioned about the tapes, and most people were very understanding. We were even surprised when my husband's best friend knew what EarBuddies were having researched himself in case his newborn daughter inherited his ears!
Right ear with Stahl's Bar Deformity
We started the process when my son was 11 weeks old and I was very impressed with the fast delivery time. To be honest, I found the first fitting a little stressful and fiddly, but it got much easier each time. I found fitting when asleep to be the best time. I'm so glad I stuck it out!
Right ear before EarBuddies
Right ear after 16 weeks
Both ears before EarBuddies
Both ears after 16 weeks
I changed the tapes every 10 days or so, but wish I'd brought more tapes to start with as cheaper ones don't match up and irritated his ears. I ended up ordering more and paying more postage. We've kept the tapes on for 16 weeks in total and have been very pleased with the results so far, especially for the shape."
