Imagine being born without an ear and spending your entire life without being able to hear on one side. Stephen Gilbert, 74, from Aghalee, was born with unilateral microtia, a rare condition in which the external ear is underdeveloped or missing on one side. But he was recently fitted with a newly-designed prosthesis that accommodates a hearing aid, allowing him to hear on his left side for the first time.
That's thanks to oral and maxillofacial surgery at the Ulster Hospital; the only service of its kind in Northern Ireland, providing bespoke prostheses for people affected by birth defects, traumatic injuries and cancer surgery. "To be able to hear someone on my left that I could never do before is just very special," Gilbert said. "It's a huge thing to be able to have a prosthetic part of your face." Artificial tongue helps doctor speak clearly Boy, 8, gets bespoke Lego prosthetic arm Model wants to inspire others to be 'proud of their prosthetics' "In my case with an ear, it's not just as visual as someone maybe needing a prosthetic for the front part of their face, maybe through injury or through cancer," he added.
"I'm very conscious of that, but I'm very grateful for what has happened to me." Growing up during the 1960s, when boys commonly wore their hair long, Gilbert could cover the area where his ear should have been. But he became increasingly conscious of his condition as he grew older, particularly as hairstyles changed and his hair became thinner. Gilbert first attended the Ulster Hospital in October 1997 for a prosthetic ear and over the past 29 years has had artificial ears made, repaired and adapted.
Previously, plastic surgery had attempted to reconstruct "some semblance of an ear" using skin and tissue taken from other parts of his body, but the results could not replicate the shape of a natural ear. But after his wife read a magazine article about advances in prosthetics, describing how they had progressed from basic skin grafts to realistic artificial ears, Gilbert went to his GP. "I'd managed for so long, but I suppose I knew that the hair wasn't always going to be there and something needed to be done," he said.
The previous grafted tissue was then removed and small implants were inserted to support the artificial ear. A mould of his right ear was then used to create a matching left ear, before getting the colour and fit right. "Amazing, that I had something that I didn't have there before.
His new prosthetic ear holds a hearing aid which transmits sounds from his left side to his functioning ear. The prosthesis has helped Gilbert feel less self-conscious when his ear is exposed, while advances in hearing aids have also made a "huge difference" to his life. Consultant maxillofacial prosthetist Brian Bigmore has made about 4,000 prostheses and devices for more than 250 patients at the Ulster Hospital.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
