rh24
10 Years Experience
Naples, FL
Female, 34
I am also referred to as an Anaplastologist or Maxillofacial Prosthetist. I make prosthetic facial anatomy for people who need it due to congenital birth defects, trauma (burns, accidents, etc), and cancer. Essentially, I'm an artist who works in medicine. Ask me anything!
Well, I usually refuse to send a patient home without the both of us being satisfied with the result. However, sometimes depending on the deformity, I cannot construct the ear as "perfectly" as I would like to. Some patients are understanding about this, some are not. If they are not satisfied for other reasons (maybe the color doesn't match perfectly, it doesn't fit as tightly/securely as they would like it, or maybe they want just a slight part of the actual ear adjusted) then yes, I will redo it in most cases when they are unsatisfied.
Thank you! Yes, there really are no words to describe how rewarding this job is. I ended up in this profession by chance, I had never even heard of it before. I studied scientific art in college, and during this time I happened upon a television show where this profession was featured. It takes a certain type of artist to achieve the desired result - a perfectionist. Ultimately, the goal is to make the prosthesis virtually undetectable to others.
I have not constructed a prosthetic nose besides the ones I have made at workshops. I'd love to though! The majority of my work is ears.
Ha! Actually yes.........as a matter of fact, some of my patients have the type of sense of humor and security where they will pull it off to freak people out. As for me, I put one on someone's dinner plate once. Can't say that wasn't enjoyable........ :)
Beauty Queen
Is there truth to the stereotypes of “pageant parents?”Air Traffic Controller
Have you ever ordered a pilot to abort mid-takeoff?Social Security Employee
How do you check to see whether someone claiming disability is actually disabled?Great question! 1 in about 5000 children are born with a microtia, which is a small, deformed ear. Occasionally, they are born with absolutely no ear(s). Most of these patients do not have an ear canal. Usually, a BAHA (bone-anchored hearing aid) is surgically implanted when this is the case. However, in situations when there is indeed an ear canal (most often in the trauma, accident, and burn cases), the ear actually does aid hearing to a certain extent. Imagine a megaphone that helps project sound. Essentially, the prostheses would be considered purely cosmetic for someone born without an ear and ear canal.
Thank you! Insurance coverage is very tricky. Trauma patients usually don't have a problem with coverage, depending on their insurance. Patients with birth defects usually have the most problem getting coverage, we often have to file repeatedly. Medicaid patients are by far the biggest problem. Sometimes they are refused coverage, and the times that they are "covered", we only receive about a third of what the prosthesis costs. You got that right, it's EXTREMELY time consuming, but that comes with the territory.
Well it seems pretty obvious that he was highly addicted to plastic surgery. What most people don't know is that he suffered from a condition called vitiligo, a skin disorder characterized by smooth, white patches on various parts of the body, caused by the loss of the natural pigment. When his symptoms appeared, he bleached his skin. I'm sure this was just another result of his addiction and someone seeking "perfection" in their vanity.
That varies for every situation. If I had an appointment with the same patient throughout the whole week and everything went flawlessly, it could be done that quickly. Most often though, this does not happen. One patient may be able to come twice a week, some every other week. The difficulty of the case also plays a huge factor. I would say the average patient takes 1-2 months depending on the appointment schedule and the difficulty of the case.
Physically, it does not faze me in the slightest. I've seen things that would give most people nightmares. However, I still struggle with the emotional aspect, being able to separate the work from the compassion. It's nearly impossible not to feel for them.
That's easy. Trauma patients. More often than not, they are angry and bitter about what has happened to them. These people have to suddenly face the fact that they are now facially derformed. In many cases, their attitude changes significantly throughout the process of making the ear. They feel their sense of normalcy restored. My favorite type of trauma patients are the ones who are simply happy to have survived whatever they have gone through. Also, kids with the congenital birth defect are almost always more positive about their situation because not having an ear is all they know, as opposed to suddenly losing an ear.
All of the above. There have been patients that have found me online that have come to me. I have been referred by plastic surgeons and some oral surgeons. Hospitals that do not provide my services will also be referred to me. Some charities also come to me for pro-bono work. Ultimately, most of my patients come from the hospital that I take my appointments at. The doctors there are the ones who perform the necessary surgeries that my patients need before I step in to make the prosthesis.
I concentrated more on anatomy for my last year of undergrad, considering my major was scientific art. For my college thesis exhibition, I learned the whole process by reading a book about facial prosthetics. After graduation, I took a few workshops with my mentor where I learned much more updated techniques....and the rest is history.
Prepare yourself! During a workshop, I aided in the making of an elderly cancer patient's prosthesis. His tumors had become so severe that half of his face had to be removed. The most alarming part was the gaping hole in his cheek where you could literally watch his tongue as he swallowed.
Well the tissues in all layers of the skin are dead, and skin nerves are highly damaged in 3rd degree burns. Damage to skin nerves can mean the skin becomes over time quite painless. The burned skin lacks sensation to touch once completely healed. The skin is also not nearly as flexible as normal. As far as I know, skin grafts and plastic surgery have done wonders for burn victims and new techniques have evolved for much better cosmetic results.
Yes. Statistically, people of Hispanic descent have the highest chance of being born with a microtia - a small, deformed ear. Those are actually the majority of patients that I see, being that I work in a hospital in a predominantly Hispanic area.
Yes! The ears are made with medical grade silicone, so it's soft and pliable. Not only can they wear earrings, they can "pierce" their own ears wherever they like. Cool, huh?
They often don't stay intact in harsh weather conditions because the prostheses are very delicate. Hard rain would ruin it over time. If the prosthesis is very secure, the wind won't affect it. Coincidentally....combine hard rain and strong winds, and what do you get? A hurricane. I had a patient who lives in the Dominican Republic who got caught in a hurricane, swam through it to save a friend's life while holding the ear in his mouth. He didn't lose it, but it was ruined and I had to make him a new one.
No, nothing like that (which would have been mildly hilarious). I'd say the biggest mistake I've ever made was purchasing the wrong sized hardware once -which I didn't figure out till months later. LESSON LEARNED!!
Plastic surgery, or do you mean the prosthesis itself? If you are referring to burn victims, yes, it's can normally still be spotted depending on the severity and location. As for a prosthesis for any missing part, the goal is to make the ear undetectable depending on the deformity and proximity of the onlooker.
No, I haven't. Prosthetic make-up is a major skill in itself, one that I haven't learned yet. Some prosthetists like myself do make them for movies occasionally. My mentor aided in Fat Bastard's costume from "Austin Powers", and even for Tom Cruise in "Interview with the Vampire", so I got a lot of insight from learning about his experiences. I had 2 choices : 1. spend 40 hours of work for a scene in a movie that will be shot for 5 seconds or 2: spend 40 hours making a prosthesis with a genuine purpose. I chose the latter. :)
Just one? That's very hard to choose, every last one is gratifying. If I had to choose one, it would be the patient I mentioned in a previous question. He had lost half of his face to cancer, and the result was completely undetectable. Ok ok.....I have to choose one more. An 8 year old patient of mine recently gave me a card telling me I had changed his life. TEAR JERKER!
Detach his nose from his face??? This I have to see! It had to be a prosthesis. When he pulled it off, were there surgical implants in his skull? If so, it was just a prosthesis.
If I had to guess, I'd say 5-6 years. Considering "half" face transplants have been successful, I can't imagine that full face transplants won't evolve very quickly. This is only my assumption. BUT, a prosthesis can also be made for a full face.
I don't own my own practice at the moment. I mainly work in a hospital with a craniofacial team, which includes all the doctors necessary in treating birth defects that are "above the shoulders". We have a separate team filled with audiologists, 2-3 surgeons and myself just for ear patients. I haven't done much traveling for patients, they come to the hospital for their prosthesis to be made.
Well if is made correctly, no! It's not easy to detect it. If one were to stare at it intently from a foot away, it may be slightly detectable due to the edges that blend into the skin in the front. Otherwise, someone standing a comfortable distance from you would have no idea. When it comes to a passing on the street or what have you, then it is most definitely not detectable.
Not exactly clear on what you mean about your doctor "sending out," but I'll give it a whirl. I work with maxillofacial surgeons (they operate in and around the mouth and jaw, including the areas of the skull where implants for a prosthesis need to be placed) prosthodontists, as well as plastic surgeons. They either aid in the surgery component of implants and/or operate on the deformed ear or skin tags. The plastic surgeons also provide an alternate route when it comes to a missing ear, which is a reconstructive surgery that uses rib and skin grafts to construct an ear. I'm not sure if this answers your question, but I've also had a few patients simply referred to me by plastic surgeons I wasn't even familiar with who thought their trauma patient would benefit most by getting a prosthetic ear.
This is an MD question. :)
Well, yes. But not in the same type of way a transplant would be rejected. Titanium screws are surgically implanted in the skull for retention purposes. Hardware is attached to the prosthetic ear (either magnets or clips). This is how the ear connects to the head. Unfortunately, it is common for the implants (in the skull) to be rejected. In that case, it is removed and another implant may be placed elsewhere. Sometimes, surgeons put in an extra implant in anticipation of one of them rejecting, so there will still be enough surviving implants that the ear will attach securely.
That's a very hard situation to be thrown in to. One day you're going about your business, and the next minute, your life will never be the same.
The key to the recovery from depression of this sort is acceptance.
I can only contribute my own personal story.
I once had a patient who was a truck driver, who came to me after he fell asleep at the wheel, over-turned his truck, and lost his ear. They attempted to reattach it, but it rejected itself. He came to me angry, bitter, resentful, impatient...you name it. Understandble, no? He felt it wasn't fair, the "why me's" were endless, and he wanted his prosthetic ear yesterday. I did my best, but between his workers comp and lawyers it was a mess. While I understood his frustration, it was over-the-top and distracting. Finally, one day I disclosed my own story, of my own issues with confidence and a "deformity" I dealt with in my teenage years (a crooked, broken nose that should have been corrected years earlier had I known how often it had been broken). His attitude changed immediately. He realized I could empathize, and that eventually, things were going to be ok.
Fast forward a few months, when we have finally gotten towards the finish line. I was asked by a reporter to be in a pretty hefty article about myself and my work for a major newspaper in the area. They also wanted this particular patient to be a part of it. At first, he almost refused. He didn't want his "neighbors/peers" to know the truth about his ear. Eventually, he reluctantly accepted.
Fast forward several years. My patient needed a touch-up on color, so we met for an appointment. When he left, he told me he'd constructed a shrine with 2 parts. One with photos of his deceased mother and some relics, the other with our newspaper article. :)
I service anywhere in or around Jersey. Please contact me for details. Robinhajdu24@gmail.com
This depends on whether your insurance will cover it. If not, it would cost approx $3-5000 out-of-pocket. Depending on the medical necessity for the ear, it may not be covered if he can hear out of that ear. They would deem it "cosmetic"... (Yes, this makes me angry) If this happens, it is up to the prosthetist how much it will cost.
Yes, I can do a partial prosthesis. Contact me if you'd like. robinhajdu24@gmail.com
Our price for a prosthetic ear is $6500. However, most insurance companies cover it under DME (durable medical equipment). Depending on your co -insurance, deductible, and various other factors, with insurance your prosthesis would most likely be covered at 80%.
Naples, Florida. I currently work for a clinic called the Center for Custom Prosthetics. www.bestprosthetics.com
No, visits are required.
-OR-
Login with Facebook(max 20 characters - letters, numbers, and underscores only. Note that your username is private, and you have the option to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
(A valid e-mail address is required. Your e-mail will not be shared with anyone.)
(min 5 characters)
By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to Jobstr.com’s Terms and Privacy Policy.
-OR-
Register with Facebook(Don't worry: you'll be able to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)