Cleft Earlobe/Earlobe Lift Gallery

A woman in her 30’s who had gauged her ears up to the size of a dime and was bothered by their appearance. Her medical history is complicated by Factor V Leiden and also by being on Plaquenil for an inflammatory arthritis/Lupus condition. She is shown before and again, 3 months after gauges repair/earlobe lift. The redundant tissue was marked by swinging the earlobe back and forth past an imaginary point and marking the wedge of skin, which enclosed the prior gauge. Multiple layers of absorbable sutures were used to maintain the proper strength of the repair while healing, and she was instructed to protect her ears with bandaids while sleeping.
She is shown again 3 months after surgery and is thrilled with the new correction of her gauges and the beautiful and youthful contour of her earlobes.

A woman in her mid 50’s who has had a double cleft/ double tear of her left earlobe for 30 years. She thought this may be from wearing heavy earrings but has no tears on her right side which has been pierced in 3 places. The clefts were too close together to be repaired separately with individual incisions and maintain the blood supply to the central piece. But she has enough extra earlobe that a wedge was marked in a similar fashion to an ear lobe lift and was excised in the office under local and repaired in layers. She is seen again 3 months after repair and just after re-piercing the earlobe for her in the office.

A woman in her early 30’s with a partial split of her right earlobe over the last 3-4 years which keeps her from wearing earrings. She does not have enough laxity to warrant an earlobe lift. She is shown before and again, 3 months after a repair of the earlobe in the office. After placing a local anesthetic, the cleft portion of the earlobe is excised through the end of the earlobe and then repaired in layers. The scars typically get redder and thicker for 6 weeks and then begin to soften and fade over the next 12-24 months. By 3 months most patient’s earlobes are ready to be re-pierced.

An RN in her later 20’s with a history of gauges. She no longer liked the look anymore and also did not like the drooping earlobes. She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair in the office. A wedge was marked on each ear by swinging the earlobe back and forth past an imaginary point. This wedge included the enlarged hole from the gauge stretching. This technique corrected the drooping of the earlobe as well as the gauge, restoring her earlobe to a youthful contour. Her ears were re-pierced for her in the office at the 3 month visit.

A woman in her mid-30’s whose earlobes have been stretched and torn from large hoops and also from wearing earrings while sleeping. She is shown before and again, 3 months after a bilateral earlobe lift/repair. With an earlobe lift, a wedge is marked by swinging the earlobe back and forth across an imaginary central point. This precisely marks the excess earlobe which is excised with the repair, “lifting” the earlobe and giving it a more youthful appearance. A beautiful contour of the new earlobe is seen 3 months after her surgery.

An Indian woman in her middle 40’s who has a cleft of her left ear which she attributes to having worn heavy earrings when she was young. She does not have any problems with her right earlobe. This makes the likely cause to more likely be wearing an earring while sleeping and the chronic stretching against the earlobe from the earring on the pillow.
She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair. Her ear was re-pierced for her under local anesthesia in the office. I recommend cleansing the area with hydrogen peroxide for the first 2-3 weeks while it is healing after the re-piercing. I then recommend that my patients get in the habit of removing their earrings while sleeping to prevent a recurrence.

A woman in her 50’s who is bothered by drooping of the earlobes. She partially tore her right earlobe when she was younger when a large hoop earring caught on her sweater. Because the earlobe is drooping and the slit is longer, her earrings sit funny. She is shown before and again, 6 months after repair. She had her ears re-pierced elsewhere after her repair.

A woman in her mid to later 40’s who has a complete traumatic cleft of her right ear and a partial traumatic cleft of her left ear. Her earlobes are also droopy in appearance. She is shown before and again, 5 months after a bilateral earlobe lift/cleft repair.

With a lift, the earlobe is swung back and forth across an imaginary central point to precisely mark a wedge. This wedge is excised at the time of the repair, removing the extra tissue and giving the earlobe a more youthful appearance. Scars typically become redder and thicker for the first 6 weeks after repair and then soften and fade over the next 2 years. By 5 months her scars have started to fade. She has a second piercing on her left earlobe and this was marked with a marking pen at the time of re-piercing her new hole.

An 8 month old who had a congenital anomaly called a branchial cleft remnant. This was removed for him when he was 3 weeks of age. He is seen again at 8 months.

A woman in her mid to later 40’s who is bothered by a left cleft earlobe. Her earrings fall through the earlobe. She has drooping of both earlobes. When both earlobes droop, patients are typically the happiest when they correct both sides, which she elected to do. With an earlobe lift, the earlobe is swung back and forth past an imaginary point to precisely mark a wedge of the excess earlobe. She is shown before and again, 6 months after surgery when she returned to have her ears repierced.