Right atrial epithesis, retention on gold bar and jumpers

“I was born with a malformation and deafness in my left ear. From the age of 7, I had numerous operations to reconstruct the pinna with grafts of rib cartilage and skin. In the end, the melting and then rejection of the cartilage left me with a lot of pain and scarring.

Then everything had to be redone but an alternative was offered to me by Professor Conraux: reconstruction by epithesis on bone fixtures, a solution that I chose at the age of 12 in 1993.

After the implant placement operations by Dr Kennels and Dr Hémar at Strasbourg University Hospital, I had my first epithesis in 1994. It was fixed by riders on a gold bar. I have always volunteered for all the innovations that Madame Riedinger wanted to test, including making a silicone epithesis sculpted directly on me. It was for presentation at a congress but ultimately too restrictive.

Over the years, I have switched to more and more flexible silicones and to fixation by magnets which have improved the comfort, the quality of the silicones and the support.

Today I am 40 years old, I work and I lead a normal life. I go to the pool, I ride my motorbike, I go rock climbing, I have played basketball, rugby, I have never restricted myself to any sporting or everyday activity. The very soft epithesis does not come off when wearing a helmet, nor if my nephews heckle with me. It's more natural and the very soft feel is more pleasant and it crashes and follows every movement even when I'm lying on it. The feeling is having the same functionality as the natural ear which I really appreciate.

There are a lot of people around me who don't know that I wear an epithesis, because it doesn't get noticed, so I don't talk about it. But I always volunteer to talk to people who have a pinna problem about myself, so sometimes the surgeon calls me and I come and show my epithesis. "