Earlobe Repair/Repair of Gauged Ear Gallery

A woman in her late 60s with drooping of her earlobes and a partial split.  She did sleep with her earrings in. She has been shown before and again, 3 months after the repair.

A woman of color in her late 20s who had gauges in her ears starting in middle school, and no longer likes the look.  She also has second piercings that have become irritated, most likely from a nickel allergy.  She is shown before and again, 6 weeks after bilateral gauges repair with a z-plasty.  At 6 weeks, the scars are at their thickest and reddest.  We will start her now on topical silicone.  Scars typically will fade and improve over the next 2 years or longer.  It will be important for her to protect her earlobes from sun exposure to decrease the risk of scars darkening.  This is called  “post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation” or “PIH” and is more common in patients who tan easily.

A woman in her mid-20s with a partial split of both ears, right more than left.  She has slept with her earrings in, and on discussion, most likely has a nickel allergy as well.  She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair, in the office under local anesthesia.

She will be re-pierced with titanium earrings and will avoid sleeping with her earrings in place, and will avoid exposure to stainless steel in the future to decrease her risk of splitting again.

An Indian woman in her late 50s, who had her ears repaired in India 6 months before but did not like the appearance and felt that her ears looked “droopy.”  On measurements, her earlobes are 10 mm on her right and 11 mm on her left.  She is shown at our visit and again, 5 ½ months after the bilateral earlobe lift.  The earlobes have a more youthful contour and the splits have been repaired. Discussion: An attractive ear is a youthful ear in studies, with the most attractive attached to free border length being 5 mm or less when evaluated by multiple independent observers.

A woman in her late 20s with a partial split of her right earlobe since college. She did sleep with earrings in place. She is shown before and again, 4 months after repair in the office. She has been using the topical silicone that we recommended and her scars have faded nicely. She will re-pierce with titanium earrings to decrease the risk of a nickel allergy.

A woman in her early 30s with a bilateral split of her primary piercings for the past 8 years.  She remembers redness and irritation from stainless steel earrings and most likely has a nickel allergy.  She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair. Scars are typically at their reddest and thickest at 6 weeks and then will fade and improve over the next 1-2 years.  At 3 months, the majority of patients are ready to be re-pierced.

A woman in her early 30s with splits of both ears for the past 8 years.  After discussion, she has a history of redness and irritation from stainless steel earrings and this most likely represents a nickel allergy.  Nickel is a component of stainless steel and can lead to allergy and chronic irritation, which often causes a bilateral split.  Europe had tougher standards on the amount of nickel that is allowed in stainless steel than the US, and this is a relatively common problem that we see.

Scars are typically at their thickest and reddest at 6 weeks.  They then begin to fade and improve over the next year or longer.  We have patients start topical silicone at the 6-week point to help with scar maturation. She is thrilled with the excellent contour of the earlobes and will return in 6 weeks to be re-pierced.  I have my patients order Titanium earrings for this.

A woman in her later 50s with a partial split and drooping of her left earlobe.  Her diamond earrings fall out.  She remembers her daughter tugging on her left ear as an infant while breastfeeding.

She is shown before and again, 3 months after earlobe lift and split repair and then re-piercing in the office.  Her right ear was not involved.

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.