Elfin Ears The Newest Cosmetic Surgery Craze (VIDEO)

"Good Morning America" brought us up to speed on the latest in cosmetic surgery: elfin ears -- a life decision we'd vaguely heard about before, entirely ignored, but will now accept as reality after being picked up by the mainstream media.

The procedure involves slitting open the cartilage at the top of the ears and sewing them back together to create a point. Jordan Houtz, who's had it done, remarked, "It was just something I thought would be fascinating...I wouldn't go so far as saying [I'm] a Trekkie, but definitely 'Lord of the Rings,' all the Sci Fi kind of stuff, and it just fit my personality."

Steve Haworth, a three dimensional artist making leprechaun-esque dreams come true, explained, "There's a lot of people out there who have an inner vision of themselves and they want to express that to the world around them." GMA found a few of those people on an online message board -- one wrote, "I want to have elf ears too. but im not sure in what season to do it...cause in the winter im always wearing a cap/beanie and i guess it would hurt."

Hurt is right. Haworth, who charges $600 for both ears, can't use anesthetic on his pixie patients because he's not an actual doctor. Because actual doctors know that altering such important body parts can result in major deformities and infection that could entirely destroy the ear within days.

But some people are into that sort of thing.

WATCH:

Comments

[BannedInBoston]

11:45 PM on 06/03/2011

I don't know what the big deal is. It's not any different from any other kind of cosmetic of cosmetic surgery -- a nose job, for example....

[WA-violins]

06:24 AM on 04/12/2011

Bwahahahahahahahahahaha! I vote for pointy heads.

[lesleypalmer]

04:24 PM on 04/09/2011

I am not against elfin ears, implanted horns or studs, filed teeth, or massive amounts of tatoos. People are going to do what they want. But, please, find a competent doctor to do these procedures.

[Hardyman1966]

01:23 PM on 04/09/2011

I'm all for individuality, but there's a certain point where you need to be put away when you can't distinguish sci-fi and fantasy from reality.

And yes, vampires count, too.

[Plastic Surgery Practice]

03:59 PM on 04/08/2011

When the professed media professionals at ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" decided this week to announce a new trend in plastic surgery procedures on its national news program -- the phenomenon of "elf ears" -- did they go ahead and contact a reliable and responsible plastic surgeon to discuss this supposed new trend on TV? Or did they go ahead and pay attention to quack extraordinaire Steve Haworth, the self-aggrandizing Arizona-based “body modification artist” who is known for creating implants and procedures for people who want to look like lizards (and other abominations)? They chose Haworth, who despite whatever dubious talents he may have is not anything close to resembling a medical professional. Oops. One problem. There is no "elf ears" trend at all. And ABC-TV and Haworth are basically acting like irresponsible fools. If one can point to a single event that illustrates how the mainstream national media is a major contributor to negative publicity in the plastic surgery field, this is it.

[DislikeTeaBaggers]

12:18 AM on 04/18/2011

Thank you!

[katielady]

02:22 PM on 04/08/2011

Ar they kidding???? The circulation is so fragile and limited in the area, one could lose part of their ears!!! My relatives "gifted" me with elf ears. My mother and aunts always reminded me to make sure they were covered when I was young. Now these nutters are going to ride this craze?? can't undo it... be careful

[Carbon Forteetoo]

11:58 AM on 04/08/2011

Let me know when I can have a prehensile tail attached to my butt.

[ladyej57]

11:37 AM on 04/08/2011

Oh yeah-the infamous "trekkie" comment was taken out of context....

[ladyej57]

11:35 AM on 04/08/2011

Actually, the woman interviewed is a straight A graduate student who believes in self-expression and teaches her students tolerance and diversity. Perhaps all the shallow commenters should take a few lessons from her.

[DislikeTeaBaggers]

12:17 AM on 04/18/2011

how do you know?

[Criss Ittermann]

11:14 AM on 04/08/2011

Hate to say it but making your ears pointy makes as much sense as poking holes in your ears to shove pieces of metal into them. Or applying heat to your hair to make it dry faster or in a certain shape. Or plucking your eyebrows. Or shaving your legs. Or.... These are all judgement calls on what is pretty or desirable, ways to individualize ourselves, ways to conform with some social or cultural standards (or not). It's ok to get breasts larger or smaller, to suck the fat out of one's body, to go on diets, put in contacts that change your eye color, etc. but it's not ok to change the shape of your ears? That's a judgement call, and prejudicial. Even if it's not done under anesthesia by a doctor, it's your body, just make sure you can live with what you do to it.

[MexiChick67]

02:28 AM on 04/10/2011

The only problem I have with this procedure is the risk of infection. It is a surgery.

[CharlesD]

08:31 AM on 04/08/2011

The procedure is probably preceded by having your brain sucked out through your nose!

[RedBirdy]

08:25 AM on 04/08/2011

you want elfin ears--- and you want them done by someone who isn't a doctor. that's insane.

[Melissa Hadley]

10:02 AM on 04/08/2011

There is a guy who IS a doctor who has higher quality work than that "barely makes a point" ear in the video pic.

http://www.modernplasztika.co.hu/beavatkozas_eng.html

But, unfortunately for those who want a higher quality procedure done, he's in Europe.

[OldNedder]

06:15 AM on 04/09/2011

Those actually look quite good - every bit as attractive as the original ears. I suppose it has much to do with the human ear being such an odd-looking contraption in the first place. Just about any animal beats us in the ear attractiveness department.

[Vic Tor]

01:03 PM on 04/09/2011

I took a look at them too and I am not convinced.

The chick in the first pic is wearing identical ear-rings and hair tie... odd.

And the guy in picture 4... his mini mullet is making almost an identical arch shape in both pics. And his beard is the same length from before and after?

Nit-picking, I know, but... I don't, take another look, they all are really similar.

[Donsta]

07:06 AM on 04/08/2011

Was this story done on April 1st?

[gracia]

06:22 AM on 04/08/2011

A guy performing surgery on people without even being a doctor ... hm ... interesting.