MiraBelle Spa
Earlobe Repair
Earlobe surgery is a simple procedure which repairs stretched or torn earlobes. For those who want to continue to wear earrings, we also offer re-piercing as soon as 4 weeks after your earlobe repair procedure. Earlobe repair is typically performed in the office under local anesthesia and takes approximately thirty to forty-five minutes. The tear or stretched piercing hole is surgically removed and then the lobe is repaired with sutures.
Elongated, misshapen and stretched earlobes
One or both of your earlobes may be:
- Overly long, due to aging or being stretched out from wearing heavy earrings and studs
- Torn or lacerated (usually from wearing earrings), so much so that the lower border of your lobe is separated into pieces
- Irregularly shaped due to congenital cleft earlobe deformity ("Coloboma Lobuli")
- Severely asymmetrical due to genetics or trauma
- So thick that it sticks out a bit from the rest of your ear
- Stretched out with a big hole in it, caused by body piercing with gauges and studs
These issues may not be damaging to your physical health, but they can definitely affect your appearance. More importantly, they're damaging to how you perceive yourself.
What is expected from an Earlobe Surgery
Earlobe surgery is done specifically to correct tears or splits in the earlobe caused by trauma whereas a similar surgery, earlobe reduction, is performed when the skin on the earlobe begins to droop and sag. This surgery can correct partial, full, or multiple tears in the ear. Partial tears are commonly caused when a pierced ear is elongated and stretched with large gauges or heavy earrings. Full tears occur when the bottom lobe of the ear is completely separated. Multiple tears are caused by either external trauma or when multiple earring holes are torn completely through the bottom lobe.
Before surgery begins, the area will be cleansed and marked for the planned excision. The earlobe will be infiltrated with a local anesthetic to provide comfort for the patient during the simple 10-15 minute procedure.
If the tear in the lobe is partial and does not break through the bottom of the ear, the elliptical tear will be excised and sutured. If the tear is in the lower third of the earlobe, your provider may extend the tear completely through the ear, excise the skin, and suture the ear into a pointed shape.
The goal of earlobe surgery is to restore a normal appearance to the ears or create a new position of the earlobe that is in better proportion with the rest of the face.
Recovery Notes
It is advised that you do not sleep on your ears or place any pressure on the repaired area until the sutures are removed about one week following your earlobe repair surgery. Normal exercise and activity can be resumed almost immediately after an earlobe repair procedure.