Can earlobes be repaired that have been stretched or torn by earrings? Yes, they can be!

Ear piercing puts the lobe at risk for many kinds of damage including stretching, tearing and keloid scarring. Many people do not know that their earlobes can be repaired and restored with plastic surgery. Your ears are not only one of the most visible parts of your body but also very fashionable and make a major statement by how they look and what jewelry you wear. Torn earlobes can occur due to trauma or after wearing heavy earrings for an extended period of time. Earlobes can then be completely torn or the area of the piercing can just be widened. These tears are often very visible and may be hard to cover with your hair. If this occurs, a simple office based procedure can be used to repair the tear. In addition to torn earlobes, sometimes earlobes can become pulled over time. This too can be surgically corrected with a simple office based procedure.

How is the procedure performed?

Under local anesthesia to numb your earlobe, the skin edges are refreshed and sutured together with stitches.  An adhesive covering is then placed over the stitches that will stay on until the stitches are removed 7 days later.

Is it a painful procedure?

When the numbing medication is injected there is a ***** and a little sting; after that, it is a painless procedure performed in an outpatient setting.  When the numbing medicine wears off, there may be some mild discomfort which is controlled with acetaminophen.

How long is the procedure?

The procedure takes about 15-30 minutes per earlobe.

When can the earlobes be pierced again?

Generally, 2-4 months after the repair the earlobes can be pierced again.  Many plastic surgeons will actually pierce the earlobes in the office for patients who have had their earlobes repaired.


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