Cleft Earlobe/Earlobe Lift Gallery

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.

A student in her early 20’s with a partial cleft of her right ear which has been present for several years and allows her earrings to fall out. She is shown 3 months after repair under local anesthesia in the office. Scars will typically increase in redness and firmness for 6 weeks as the earlobe heals and then begin to fade and improve over the next 2 years. This is a typical appearance for the 3 month timeframe and a typically a good time to return to have the ear repierced.

A 14 year old young woman with a partial cleft of her right ear which she attributes to wearing heavy earrings. She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair in the office under local anesthesia. Scars typically get thicker and redder for 6 weeks and then begin to fade over the next year or longer.
After re-piercing her ear in the office, I have recommended that once the new piercing heals after 3-4 weeks that she gets in the habit of removing her earrings while sleeping to prevent recurrence. Her left ear is normal so the weight of the earrings is less likely of a factor then having the earrings in while sleeping. When the ear moves against the pillow, the earring post can slowly cut through the earlobe like a wire cutting through a cheese and is the more likely cause.

A man in his later 20’s with gauges of his ears who no longer likes the look. He is shown before and again, 4 months after reconstruction of the earlobes in the office under local anesthesia. Scars are typically at their reddest and thickest at 6 weeks and then begin to soften and fade over the next 18 -24 months. He is thrilled to have a normal earlobe contour again.

A woman in her early 60’s who is bothered by a droopy appearance of her earlobes. She feels like she has “her grandfather’s earlobes”, especially when the weight of an earring is added. She is shown before and again, 3 ½ months after an earlobe lift.
A wedge is precisely marked by swinging the earlobe back and forth across an imaginary central point and the wedge is removed under local anesthesia in the office and repaired.

A woman in her early 30’s who has bilateral earlobe holes which are stretched from heavy earrings and from sleeping with her earrings in at night. She is also bothered by the earlobes hanging when she wears earrings, which give them an aged appearance. She is shown before and again, 3 months after a bilateral ear lobe lift. With a lift, a wedge is precisely marked by swinging the earlobe back and forth across an imaginary central point, to remove the excess earlobe. This wedge is excised and the ears appear lifted after the repair.

A challenging case of a woman in her 50’s with a double split of her left ear and a single split of her right ear. She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair in the office under local anesthesia.