Even beautiful celebrities find flaws with their ears, opt for corrective ear surgery

Otoplasty, plastic surgery of the ear, can be used to correct deformities caused by congenital conditions or physical injury. But many simply choose get the surgery to hide imperfections.

Brad Pitt, for example, as been named People's "Sexiest Man Alive" on more than one occasion. Plastic surgeons say that his name pops up more than almost any other male celebrity when it comes to who patients most want their features to look like after surgery. But even he has dealt with some insecurities. Would we still see him as the heartthrob we do today if he had ears that stuck out like Dopey?

Apparently the actor didn't think so because at the start of his acting career, he made the decision to undergo an ear surgery to have his ears "pinned" closer in to his head. Perhaps the confidence from the surgery catapulted him to the sex symbol status he currently enjoys.

Plastic surgery queen Heidi Montag has undergone so many plastic surgery procedures, it's a wonder that she can even keep track of them herself. Her list includes liposuction, breast augmentation, chin reduction, buttocks augmentation, brow lift, rhinoplasty and more. Among her myriad procedures was an ear surgery to reduce the protrusion of her rather large ears.

The reality star claimed she used to cringe at the sight of her ears when watching herself on television. Now, she says she has "sexy ears" and feels free to wear her hair pulled back or in an updo, rather than down to hide her problem areas.

However, some celebrities have undergone ear surgery for non-cosmetic reasons. Paul Stanley, guitarist and vocalist for legendary rock band KISS, had to have an operation on his ears because of a condition he dealt with his whole life called microtia.

Microtia is a condition in which a person is born with an underdeveloped external ear or pinna. Aside from the obvious physical deformity one must deal with, the condition can cause a significant hearing impairment. This can cause obvious problems for a musician like Stanley.

However, the rocker says he never experienced much trouble hearing his band and his own music through his one good ear. It was later in life, when he got older, that he experienced hearing loss to an intolerable degree and opted for surgery that implanted a bone conduction device to enable him to have full hearing for the first time in his life.

While Stanley certainly appears to have undergone at least a few plastic surgery procedures on his face, he has never had cosmetic ear surgery. Stanley says he was picked on in school for having the abnormality and even started to grow his hair long to cover it. But now he keeps it proudly and participates in About Face, an organization aimed at helping kids with different or abnormal facial features to accept the way they look and to teach them they are not alone.