Earlobe Repair/Repair of Gauged Ear Gallery

A woman in her early to mid-20s with a partial split of her right ear and a complete split of her left ear.  She did sleep with her earrings in place.  She is shown before and again, 3 months after bilateral split ear repair.  Scars typically will become thicker and redder for 6 weeks and then fade and improve over the next 2 years.

An Indian woman in her late 50s who had split earlobes repaired in India 6 months before but still did not like the appearance of her ears.  On examination, she has a drooping of her earlobes and some redness from her piercings c/w a probable nickel allergy.  The drooping gives her earlobes an aged appearance. She is shown before and again 3 months after a bilateral earlobe lift performed in the office under local anesthesia.  Scars typically get thicker and redder for 6 weeks and then start to fade and improve over the next 2 years.  At 3 months, her scars still have some redness, but she has an excellent contour now.  She will continue to use topical silicone to help the scars mature and avoid UV exposure to decrease the risk of darkening the scars. In my experience, patients would like a beautiful earlobe, not simply a repair of a split.  If the earlobe has significantly drooping I usually recommend an earlobe lift be performed at the time of the split repair.

A woman in her mid-50s with a partial split of her right ear.  She has a history of redness which may represent a nickel allergy.  She is shown before and again, 3 months after split repair with a small lift.  A beautiful shape of the earlobe is seen after surgery.

An Asian woman in her late 20s who has had gauges since she was 15.  She removed them 6 years ago and found that the gauged appearance no longer matches the professional appearance she maintains for her job.  She needs to wear small plugs to camouflage them during meetings.  She would also like to be able to wear normal earrings when she gets married.

She is shown before, immediately after, and again, 3 months after an “L” plasty repair that also removed a second piercing on each ear.

An Asian woman in her later 20s with a history of gauges since she was 15.  She took them out 6 years ago but would wear plugs during meetings so that the ears did not stand out.  She no longer likes the gauged appearance and would like to be able to wear normal earrings.  She is shown before and again, 6 ½ weeks after an L plasty-type repair under local anesthesia in the office.  We are having her use topical silicone now to help with scar maturation and she is protecting them from UV exposure to decrease the risk of scar darkening ( “post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation”)

Before, Immediately after, and then 6 1/2 months after secondary gauges repair.

A woman in her early 30’s with bilateral gauges.  She has had gauges since her mid-teens and was gauged up to as large as an inch.  This no longer fits her lifestyle and she wanted to have them repaired and to be able to wear normal earrings again.  She is shown before and again, 5 ½ months after Z-Plasty repair and again, just after re-piercing in the office

Photos are shown before surgery with the gauges in, with the gauges out, and with the z-plasty marked and injected with local anesthetic.

A woman in her early 30’s with gauges.  She needs to have this corrected so that she can become a police officer.  She is shown before and again, 6 weeks after “z plasty of Borneo” correction.

A woman of color in her early 40’s who had her ears pierced initially in Ethiopia when she was very young. She does not have a history of “gauges”, but her holes have always been large.  Because of their size, they are similar to correcting the deformity from gauges.  She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair under local anesthesia in the office.

Details: A man in his later 20s who has gauged ears and no longer likes the appearance.  He started gauging his ears when he was 13.  The appearance of his ears restricts his future career opportunities and he would like them to look normal again.  He is shown before and again, 6 weeks after repair in the office under local anesthesia.  Scars are typically at their reddest and thickest at  6 weeks and will then typically fade and soften over the next 2 years.  We are having him start topical silicone to help the scars to mature faster. The scars are red as we would expect at just 6 weeks but the new contour is excellent.