Cleft Earlobe/Earlobe Lift Gallery

A woman in her early 70’s with a cleft of her right ear where her earrings tore through and age related drooping of both ears. She is shown before and again, 3 months after a bilateral earlobe lift incorporating a repair of her cleft. With a lift, the earlobe is swung back and forth across an imaginary midpoint to precisely mark a wedge of excess earlobe to be excised, “lifting” the earlobe. She is thrilled with the more useful. Her earlobe tear was most likely from sleeping with her earrings in. After re-piercing she will wear a Bandaid at night for the first 3-4 weeks and then get in the habit of removing the earrings when sleeping. Most patients tend to sleep more on one side than the other, and the earring post gets pushed back and forth catching on the pillow an can slowly cut through the earlobe like a wire cutting through cheese.

A woman in her early 40’s with a cleft of her right ear. She had initially had this repaired with good result and re-pierced at 3 months. She did not however remove her earrings at night while sleeping and re-tore the same earlobe 2 months later. Repairing the earlobe does not make it any stronger than it was initially. It is good to repair problems and even better to prevent new problems. People tend to sleep more on one side than another and the force of the pillow constantly moving across the earring can cause the post to slowly cut through the earlobe, like a wire cutting through a cheese. So she returned to have this repaired again. She is shown now 3 months after this second repair and again, just after re-piercing in the office. She now plans to protect her ear during the initial 3-4 week healing period after re-piercing with a Bandaid at night while sleeping ( the earring is kept in for the first 3-4 weeks while sleeping to allow the new piercing to become lined with new skin cells) and then after this time to start removing her earrings completely when sleeping.

A woman in her mid 20’s with a partial cleft of her right earlobe and an almost complete cleft of her left earlobe. Her earrings no longer sit properly in the ears, the backs pull through. She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair in the office under local anesthesia and again, just after re-piercing.

A woman in her early 60’s with drooping of the earlobes and a partial cleft. She is shown before and again, 3 months after bilateral earlobe lift/repair. Her posterior hole was left in place.

A woman in her early 40’s with a partial cleft of her right ear as well as drooping of both earlobes. She is shown before and again, 3 months after bilateral earlobe lift/repair. With an earlobe lift, a wedge is marked by swinging the earlobe back and forth past an imaginary central point to precisely measure the amount of excess earlobe. Scars typically become thicker and redder for 6 weeks and then start to soften and fade over the next 2 years. At 3 months the earlobes are typically soft enough to be re-pierced in the office.

A woman in her early 50’s with a partial cleft and stretched out earlobes from sleeping with her earrings in. She wore tape for a few years on the back of her ear, but recently lost her diamond earrings on her right side and has not been able to wear earrings since. She is shown before and again, 3 months after correction of the cleft together with an earlobe lift. With an earlobe lift, the earlobe is swung back and forth across an imaginary central point to precisely mark a wedge of excess earlobe. This is removed with the repair, lifting the earlobe and restoring a more youthful appearance. She is shown before along with the markings, and again at 3 months, just after re-piercing in the office.

A man in his mid 30’s who had gauges in college and the holes never shrunk enough after he removed them. He is changing careers and does not want the stigma of having had gauges. He is shown before and again, 3 months after bilateral repair in the office. Scars will typically continue to fade and improve for 1-2 years. He is already thrilled to have a normal appearance again.

An Rn in her early 50’s who has had one prior repair of her left earlobe 10 years ago by another plastic surgeon. She is bothered by drooping of both earlobes and a partial cleft or split of her left earlobe. She does sleep with her earrings in and this is probably the cause of her recurrent split. She is shown before and again, 3 months after a bilateral earlobe lift. With a lift, the earlobe is swung back and forth past an imaginary midline point to mark a precise wedge. When this is excised it removes the excess earlobe and “lifts” it. She feels that she “ has the earlobes of a 20 year old now”.

A woman in her early 50’s with a partial cleft of her left ear, which she has had for many years. This prevents her from wearing earrings because “they hang funny”. She does have a history of sleeping with her earrings in, which is the probable cause. She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair of her earlobe under local anesthesia in the office. Scars typically become redder and thicker for 6 weeks after surgery and then begin to soften and fade over the next 2 years. At 3 months, her earlobe is ready to be repierced in the office.

A woman in her early 50’s with a complete cleft of her left earlobe and a partial cleft of her right earlobe. She has had right earlobe repair in the past by another plastic surgeon.
She does sleep with her earrings in place, and this is most likely the cause. She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair in the office under local anesthesia.