www.ears-forum.com

[Dr. Merck]

Dear colleagues,

In 1996, I began performing a minimally invasive method for otoplasty which I had invented. In 1999, I started to report of my method and the results I was achieving. At conventions I referred to it as a "Minimally invasive method for otoplasty – the Stitch Method" because the only stabilising and fixing element is the invisible stitch under the skin. There is no thinning, scratching or excisions of cartilage. With the first use of the term "Stitch Method" in the surgery of protruding ears, I hoped there would be a clear differentiation from the other otoplasty terms.
To my surprise, and disappointment, I noticed that the term "Stitch Method" was seen by colleagues (who misunderstood me or did not get proper information) as the Mustardé method or a variant of it. They thought I had modified this old method and used it now under the new term "stitch method". The Dr. Merck Stitch Method, however, has got absolutely nothing to do with it. The Mustardé method is an open, bloody method. In contrast, mine is the first completely closed and minimally invasive method for otoplasty with none of the risks tied to the Mustardé method. As opposed to the Mustardé method, you can operate any ear no matter how thick and resistant the cartilage is. Even protruding ear lobes are brought not only closer to the head through the non-invasive technique but also into the right position in the same session as the ears. In view of this, whoever continues to use the term "stich method" as an collective term, shows that he is not well-informed. This term is not to be found for any other ear correction method.
Anyone who calls my method a "Mustardé kind of stich method" (because a filament is used to form the cartilage) would actually have to call all ear correction methods "stich methods" because they all employ filaments to form the cartilage. Unlike with the Mustardé method, mine involves no cutting. It is a non-invasive, gentle method. Tiny stitches are the only wounds. That is why no bandage is necessary.


For anyone requiring further information, please read more in this forum and refer to my homepage at www.merck-ecs.com.

Finally, I kindly ask you to make correct statements towards patients about the Dr. Merck Stitch Method and not to claim – as is done very often at the moment – that it is the old Mustardé method or a modification thereof. Here I must also point out that "Benedict" and "Pirwitz" are advertising on the Internet using the term "Stitch Method" for their operation of protruding ears, despite the fact that they reshape the cartilage.

Best regards to all my colleagues,
Priv.Doz.Dr.med.W.Merck

[Mr A S TAGHI PhD, FICS]

Dear Dr Merck,

We should be grateful, if you could tell us more about your method and how you do it??


Thank you

[Dr.Merck]

Dear Mr A S TAGHI PhD, FICS,

If you practice medicine and would like to have further information on my method, than you can find it here or on my website (www.merck-ecs.com). We recommend that you participate in one of our seminars for doctors in Mallorca.
If you would not like to attend a seminar, or are unable, please write me exactly what it is you would like to know.

Kind regards
Priv. Doz. Dr. W.med. Merck

[dday]

Hi im very interested in this method and therefore would like to ask you to send me step by step procedures so i can understand it better, even photos if you have them. I will be attending one of the seminars also.

[Administrator]

Dear dday,

To guarantee that the stitch method has been correctly understood we hand out this kind of information (including photos) only in our seminars for physicians. If the physicians understood how the method works and how they have to operate with the method, they recieve a cerificate.
This certificate documents their participation at the seminar and that they learned the application of the stitch method.

Kind regards

Priv. Doz. Dr. med. W. Merck