Face Gallery

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 in her early 60’s who is bothered by a tired appearance. She does not like the hooded appearance of her eyes and upper face. On questioning she has problems with chronic headaches which may be related to chronic strain of the forehead muscles working to hold the eyebrows up. As we age we lose volume in the face which leads to dropping of the eyebrows. She has had lower eyelid blepharoplasty elsewhere nearly 20 years ago.

She is shown before and again, 6 weeks after bilateral upper eyelid blepharoplasty and a coronal brow lift. A brow lift is a “face lift” of the upper face with the incisions hidden in the hairline. The forehead lines diminish because she is no longer working to hold her brows up with the muscles. The brows have been lifted to a natural level and she no longer has a tired appearance.

A woman of color in her mid 20’s who is bothered by a dorsal hump and drooping of the tip. She is shown before and again, just 6 weeks after an open rhinoplasty. Already she has a nice improvement in her contour. The nasal tip will continue to improve in refinement and appearance for 3 years as swelling slowly diminishes.

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.

A woman in her early 60’s with a complete cleft of her right ear and a partial cleft of her left ear. She does sleep with her earrings in and notice that this gradually became longer until it tore through completely. She initially had her ears pierced at the age of 8. She also has a droopy appearance of the earlobes. She is shown just before and again, 3 months after bilateral earlobe lift when she returned to have her ears re-pierced. With an earlobe lift, a wedge is marked by swinging the earlobe back and forth across an imaginary central point. As this wedge of excess tissue is removed it “lifts” the earlobe and gives is a more youthful appearance. Scars typically become thicker and redder for 6 weeks and then fade and improve over the next 1 1/2- 2 years.

A health care professional in her early 60’s with a large basal cell carcinoma of her right upper lip. She is shown just after Moh’s excision and then again, 5 months after a paranasal advancement flap. Scars will typically continue to fade and improve over the first two years.

A woman in her mid 50’s with a partial tear of her right earlobe for many years that makes it difficult to wear earrings. She did not remove her earrings for sleeping and this is the side that she sleeps on.

She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair in the office under local when she returned for re-piercing in the office. I recommend that she clean the new piercing with hydrogen peroxide a few times a day and wear a Bandaid at night while sleeping for the first 3-4 weeks. At that point the piercing hole should be healed enough to change earrings and she should remove them while sleeping. My theory is that the earring post levers back and forth against the earlobe as it rubs against the pillow, slowing cutting through the earlobe like a wire cutting through a cheese.

A retired nurse in her late 70’s with a spindle cell pleomorphic cancer of her right forehead. She is shown just after modified Mohs excision by the Mohs surgeon and again, 7 ½ months after an inverted T-plasty repair of the forehead followed by postoperative radiation. With an inverted T pasty, the defect is converted to an upside down “V” and the sides are advanced and repaired to give the appearance of an upside down “T”.

A woman of color with a partially torn right earlobe. This makes her earrings hang at a funny angle. She has torn this before and had it repaired before. She does sleep with her earrings in place. She is shown before and again, 3 ½ months after repair in the office. It is great to fix things but it is better to prevent things. So I have recommended that she get in the habit of removing her earrings while sleeping to prevent this from tearing again. My theory is that the earring pulls back and forth across the pillow while sleeping and slowly cuts through the earlobe like a wire cutting through a cheese.

A man in his early 40’s who is bothered by prominent ears. He reports being teased when he was younger and being called “Elephant” and other names. He is finally at a point where he can take care of his ears. He is shown before and again, just 6 weeks after bilateral otoplasty. The cartilage was reshaped by a combination of rasping with a Dingman otoabrader ( designed by one of my professors at the University of Michigan, Dr. Reed DIngman) along with excision of excess conchal cartilage and sutures to reshape the ear. He is thrilled to have a normal appearance to his ears. There is still some mild redness from the healing process which should continue to fade with time.