Cleft Earlobe/Earlobe Lift Gallery

A woman in her early 70’s with bilateral cleft earlobes as well as drooping of the earlobes. She is shown before and, 3 months after a bilateral earlobe lift.
In an earlobe lift, a wedge is carefully marked by swinging the earlobe back and forth past an imaginary central point. When the wedge is removed, the earlobe is “lifted” by removing the excess skin.

A woman in her later 30’s with bilateral split earlobes, right more than left, who would like to have this corrected. She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair. After the new re-piercings have healed ( typically 3-4 weeks) she will begin to remove her earrings a night while sleeping to help prevent a recurrence.

A woman in her mid 30’s with a partial cleft of her left ear piercing. The backs pull through the ear and the earring “hangs” at a funny angle. She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair. She already has a second piercing nearby and did not need to have the earlobe re-pierced. I have recommended that she get in the habit of removing her earrings when sleeping to help prevent a recurrence. The posts of the earrings catch on the pillow at night and lever back and forth against the earlobe, slowly cutting through it.

A woman in her early 30’s with a complete traumatic cleft of her left ear and a partial cleft on her right. She also has some drooping of the earlobe. She elected for a bilateral earlobe lift. A lift differs from a simple repair by removing a wedge of skin that is marked by swinging the earlobes back and forth past an imaginary center point. She is shown 4 months after the ear lobe lift and again, just after re-piercing her ears in the office.

A woman in her late 20’s who has a complete cleft of her left earlohe that finished tearing while she was running a marathon.  Her right earlobe piercing has started to stretch and she would like to have both repaired.  She is shown before and again, 3 months after a bilateral cleft earlobe repair, and again, just after re-piercing.  In order to decrease the chance of this happening again I have advised that she start to remove her earrings at night while sleeping, once the new piercings have healed in 3-4 weeks.  I think that the earring posts will lever back and forth across the earlobe when a patient is sleeping and it is pressed against the pillow, slowly cutting through the earlobe like a wire cutting through a piece of cheese.

A woman in her early 70’s with bilateral cleft earlobes from earrings. She also has age related drooping of her earlobes. She was marked for a bilateral ear lobe lift. A wedge is marked by swinging the earlobe back and forth across an imaginary central point. This extra tissue is excised at the time of the cleft earlobe repair. The earlobe is “lifted” by removing this excess tissue and has a more youthful look after surgery. She is shown again, 3 months after surgery.

A woman in her late 20’s with a cloft of her left ear for the last 2 years. She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair in the office, when she returned for re-piercing.

A woman in her mid 20’s with bilateral cleft earlobes after wearing earrings. She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair under local anesthesia in the office when she returned for re-piercing.

A woman in her late 40’s who has a partial cleft of her left earlobe which makes it difficult to wear earrings and also is bothered by drooping of both her ear lobes when she has earrings in place. After discussing options she elected for a bilateral ear lobe lift. With this procedure a wedge is marked by swinging the earlobe back and forth across an imaginary point. She is shown again, 3 months after her surgery and just before re-piercing her earlobes in the office.

An RN in her late 60’s who has had a torn right earlobe repaired several years ago in Boston. . She was not removing her earrings at night and it split again, within a year. She decided to have it repaired again, and came to see us 3 months ago. The right earlobe had already had some lobe excised and did not need a wedge/lift at the time of our repair, but the left earlobe had a wedge/earlobe lift to better match. She is back today for re-piercing and loves her new earlobes. After re-piercing she will cleanse the ears with hydrogen peroxide daily for 3-4 weeks and then get in the habit of removing her earrings when sleeping. I believe that the earring post pushes back and forth against the pillow when sleeping and cuts through the earlobe, like a wire cutting through cheese. So repair is good, prevention is better!