Will Cosmetic Surgery Alter My Hearing?

I am no expert qualified to answer authoritatively (you know who to ask for that), but I would say yes, a simple physical experiment anyone can do with their own ears will easily show that any change in the shape or immediate environment of the outer ear will result in readily perceivable changes in apparent frequency response. The good news, I believe, is that the brain might well adjust over a fairly short period of time for this change, compensating internally to restore flat perceived response. Better not take my word for it, though...

There was an experiment where two researches made rubber moldings of the outside of their ears. They then traded ear castings with each other to see if they could still hear properly. At first, they cold not distinguish where sounds were coming from and had difficulty with detail. However, over time most of these problems completely disappeared. When they removed the castings, their normal hearing reappeared shortly thereafter.

Best wishes!

Brad

I would think so. The outer ear (the Pinna) not only gathers sound but it imprints directional information on all sounds picked up by the ear. So Brad's comment seems on the mark. Also, generally, as an object approaches the size of a particular wavelength it can effect it. 20kHz wavelenght is .0565 feet or 1 and 1/16 inch long. 15k is .0753'. Maybe this could have some effect too.

Your doing the opposite of cupping your ears to a lesser degree and you know what that does.

I remain,

...the bottom line is that drum receptors aren't being changed neither cosmetically nor physically. it might even drive you to the different equipment that is different from what you're using but for real the freequency bandwidth will not change.

Look at it as being some kind of ultimate tweak. If you don't like the new sound, change cables (in the sound system, obviously). Good luck and prompt recovery.

One of my relatives had his ears "pinned back" as a young man, and he lost some of his ability to judge the direction of sounds. He never regained it.

I can perceive a timbral difference when I push my ears forward a bit, or pull them back, or whatever. I'd suggest you do this:

While listening to music or even a constant noise source (I'm using the air conditioner to test my theory as I type), use your fingers to approximate your anticipated post-procedural ear geometry, and see how you like it.

Cheers!

Duke

PS - when I was a kid, they called me "wingnut".