Cleft Earlobe/Earlobe Lift Gallery

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.

A woman in her early 60’s who is bothered by an old tear of her left earlobe as well as drooping of both earlobes. She is shown before and again, 3 months after a bilateral earlobe lift/ cleft earlobe repair. In an earlobe lift the earlobe is swung back and forth past an imaginary point and marked for a wedge to be removed. She is absolutely thrilled with the more youthful appearance of her earlobes and is shown before and again at 3 months and again, just after re-piercing her ears in the office.

An Asian woman in her early 20’s who has a partial cleft of her right ear, and a tear of her left ear that had healed with a thickened scar and then split through the lower ear lobe. She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair in the office. Scars will typically get thicker for 6 weeks and then softer and fade over the next 2 years. At three months her ear lobes are ready to re-pierce. We have had her using Aquaphor for the first 6 weeks after her initial repair, and then, topical silicone.

A woman in her mid 70’s who is bothered by a left cleft ear. She has had this repaired elsewhere in the past but it has recurred. Her case is complicated by needing to take Coumadin (Warfarin) to prevent blood clots. She has a double piercing in both ears but plans to only use one piercing down the road. She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair under local anesthesia in the office. Because she is not going to use the second hole on each earlobe, the left ear was re-pierced at her request to best match the hole on her right ear. It is the best centered position on the repaired earlobe to match the hole on her opposite ear but would be too close to the old hole if she wanted to still wear two earrings.

A woman in her early 60’s who is bothered by a low piercing on her ear as well as drooping of the earlobes with her earrings in place. He originally had her ears pierced by a friend with a potato, an ice cube and a needle!
She is shown before and again, 15 months after an earlobe lift. We will normally see patients back at the 3 month mark to re-pierce the ears but she was not able to come in sooner. Scars continue to fade however, and at the 15 month mark have faded quite nicely. The earlobe is no longer droopy giving it a more youthful appearance. In an earlobe lift, the earlobe is swung back and forth past an imaginary center point to mark a wedge of excess earlobe that is removed during the repair.

A woman in her early 30’s with a partial cleft of her left year since having it pierced at a very young age. Because of the size of the cleft she has not been able to wear earrings for years. She is shown before and again, 4 months after repair and just after repiercing in the office.