Cleft Earlobe/Earlobe Lift Gallery

A Hispanic man in his early 30’s who is bothered by splitting of his earlobes. He does sleep with his earrings in. He is shown before and again, 9 months after bilateral cleft repair. He was careful to avoid sun exposure to prevent darkening of the scars that is more common in people that tan easily ( “ post inflammatory hyperpigmentation” ) and his incisions have healed beautifully. I have recommended that he get in the habit of removing his earrings while sleeping to prevent this from happening again. I have a video on the causes of the split earlobe that goes into more detail.

A nurse in her later 60’s who has a partial tear of her left earlobe for the second time. She has had this repaired elsewhere 10 years before. She does sleep with her earrings in place. She is shown before and again 3 months after repair of the partial cleft. Scars typically become thicker and redder for 6 weeks and then soften and fade over the next year or more. I have recommended that she start to take the earrings out while sleeping to prevent this from happening again. The causes of a split earlobe are reviewed in my video.

A woman in her late 80’s who is bothered by stretching of her left earlobe hole that allows her earrings to fall out. She does sleep with her earrings in place. She is shown before and again, 3 months after correction of the partial cleft along with an earlobe lift. Scars are at their thickest at 6 weeks and then typically soften and fade over the following year or more. At 3 months her scar still has some mild redness and thickness that can be expected to fade with time.

Update: Our patient is now seen nearly 5 months after repair with a smaller earring in place. The scar has continued to fade and soften.

A woman in her early 50’s with a recurrent, double split of her right earlobe which was repaired elsewhere 3 years before but has split again. She does sleep with her earrings in place.
She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair of the double split using the wedge of an earlobe lift. Scars get redder for 6 weeks and then fade and improve over the next year or longer. She is thrilled to have a normal contour again, and we repierced her ear for her in the office. I have recommended that she review my video on “the split earlobe” to try and avoid this happening again.

A woman in her early 30’s with mild drooping of her right earlobeas well as a right ear tear and a left ear partial tear. The right ear seems to be tearing more as she has been wearing studs at night while she sleeps. She has had her left earlobe repaired which she was much younger.
She is shown before and again, 3 months after a bilateral earlobe lift/repair.

A woman in her late 40’s with a complete cleft of her right earlobe and a partial cleft of the left earlobe, as well as drooping of both earlobes. She is shown before and again, 3 months after bilateral earlobe lift combined with cleft repair. She was able to use her prior hole on the right earlobe. We will re-pierce the left earlobe for her in the office. She is thrilled to not only have repaired her split, but to have more beautiful earlobes as well.

A woman in her early 40’s who feels that her earlobes are “droopy” She is shown before and again, 6 months after bilateral earlobe lift.

A woman of color in her early 30’s with a less common cleft/ notch/split of her mid ear following a “piercing gone wrong” in college. She is bothered by the notch of the mid ear. She is shown just 6 weeks after surgery. The scar is typically at the reddest and thickest 6 weeks after surgery and will continue to fade and improve over the next year or two. Already she is thrilled with the correction of the notch and restoration of a normal contour. One of the dissolvable sutures that had not yet come out was removed from the back of the ear just before the photo, where she shows a small drop of bleeding.

A woman in her mid 20’s with a partial cleft of her right earlobe for the past 3 years. Her earrings “hang funny” because of the length of the hole. She does sleep with her earring in and this is the side that she sleeps on.
She is shown before and again, 3 months after right cleft earlobe repair under local anesthesia in the office and again, just after re-piercing. Scars typically become thicker and redder for 6 weeks and then begin to fade and soften over the next 1-2 years. I typically like to wait 3 months to re-pierce the ear.

A woman of color in her early 20’s who had had a complete tear of her right earlobe for a few years. She is not sure how this happened originally but does sleep on this side and did sleep with her earrings in. She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair in the office.