Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital, Manhattan, New York City. Ear reduction, addressing macrotia, might involve reducing one or more of the components of oversized ears; the incisions usually are hidden in, or near, the front folds of the pinna. Post-surgical recovery The internal sutures usually are permanent (non-absorbable), but the surgical wound or wounds can be sutured with either absorbable sutures or with non-absorbable sutures that the plastic surgeon removes when the surgical wound has healed. Depending upon the deformity to be corrected, the otoplasty can be performed either as an outpatient surgery or at hospital; while the operating room time varies between 1.5 to 5 hours. For several days after the surgery, the otoplasty patient wears a voluminous, non-compressive dressing upon the corrected ear(s), and must avoid excessive bandage pressure upon the ear during the convalescent period, lest it cause pain and increased swelling, which might lead to the abrasion, or even to the necrosis of the ear's skin. After removing the dressing, the patient then wears a loose headband whilst sleeping for a 3–6-week period; it should be snug, not tight, because its purpose is preventing the corrected ear(s) from being pulled forward, when the sleeping patient moves whilst asleep. An overly-tight headband can abrade and erode the side surface of the ear, possibly creating an open wound. A dressing does not have to be worn if the patient was operated upon with the stitch method. Complications Hematoma: a hematoma can be immediately addressed if the patient complains of excessive pain, or when the surgical wound bleeds. The dressing is immediately removed from the ear to ascertain the existence of a hematoma, which then is immediately evacuated. If the surgical wound is infected, antibiotic therapy helps avoid the occurrence either of abscess or of perichondritis (inflammation). Infection: cellulitis is rare after otoplasty, but it is treated aggressively, with antibiotics in order to avoid chondritis, a condition potentially requiring debridement, and which may permanently disfigure the ear. Suture complications: suture extrusion in the retroauricular sulcus (the groove behind the ear) is the most common otoplastic complication following corrective surgery. Such extruded sutures are easy to remove, but the extrusion occurrence might be associated with granulomas, which are painful and unattractive. This complication might be avoided by using absorbable sutures; to which effect, monofilament sutures are likelier to protrude, but have a lesser incidence rate of granulomas, whereas braided sutures