Ear Lobe Repair

Piercing your ears puts the earlobes at risk for stretching, tearing, and keloid scarring (a benign growth on scar tissue). Because of their location, the tears are often split and are very visible. Earlobe repair surgery fixes the split and enables you to wear earrings again.

Torn Or Split Earlobes

Excessive weight or trauma can easily overcome the strength of the earlobe tissues leading to a tear in the gentle earlobe tissues. This split may be unattractive and renders the earlobe unusable for most jewelry. Sometimes, clip-on earrings can still be fitted and are used to camouflage the earlobe tear.

How Do Earlobe Tears Occur?

The earlobes are appendages of the ears made of soft skin and a small amount of fatty tissue. When studying the earlobe appearance and anatomy, one is often surprised about the large variation in size, form and shape. Aside from being important for a normal appearance of the ears, the earlobes serve women and men as popular locations for jewelry. Often, the earlobes are pierced to fit various forms of ear ornaments ranging from little studs to larger and heavier items.

How Can Split Earlobes Be Corrected?

We have seen creative patients using transparent tape to temporarily repair their torn lobe. Although a resourceful idea, skin reaction may develop making this habit obsolete in the long run.

Can The Ear Be Pierced Again?

Yes, but Dr. Fechner asks his patients to wait for a minimum of 8 weeks before a stud can be placed. Now it is important to prevent recurrent earlobe damage. Therefore, be careful with larger ear jewelry and loops around children. Small studs are relatively safe, heavy ear rings should be avoided.

Earlobe Slit (Enlarged Piercing Hole)

An incomplete tear in the earlobe usually starts at the original piercing site and continues downward for some degree. The result is an earlobe hole too large to hold ear studs. Closure of the enlarged slit-like hole can be performed in the office. A new piercing usually has to be performed but has to wait for approximately 8 week.

Earlobe Reduction

Earlobes may be large from birth but commonly get bigger with age. A large earlobe may require substantial ear jewelry for appropriate balance; small studs may appear “lost” within the space of a fleshy earlobe. Large earlobes can be sagging and hang down too far which may benefit from a decrease of the hanging curvature. In other instances, the earlobe is rather fleshy and elongated requiring a decrease of the overall length. An earlobe reduction is performed in the office under local anesthesia with the option of a sedative. Sometimes, earlobe reduction is performed in conjunction with a face and neck lift procedure.

Earlobe Reconstruction (Ear Lobe Repair)

A variety of problems may require reconstructive surgery of the earlobes. Earlobe abnormalities may result from hereditary abnormalities, traumatic events, surgical procedures (i.e., for skin cancer treatment) or earlobe changes due to body art. The reconstructive approaches to most of these problems differ and depend on the specific needs of the patient. Often, a creative and artistic eye is helpful in planning these delicate earlobe procedures.