Have you ever experienced a torn earlobe or a stretched-out piercing? It’s so annoying when you can’t wear your favorite earrings! Whether your earlobes have been affected by heavy jewelry, accidental pulls, or large gauges that no longer suit your style, there’s good news: earlobe repair surgery can restore your ears to their original appearance.

The Impact of Jewelry on Earlobes

The delicate nature of earlobe tissue makes it susceptible to damage from heavy earrings or sudden tugs that can stretch or tear the skin. The most typical situation is a tear or partial tear from wearing heavy earrings over time. Occasionally earlobes will stretch or tear due to trauma, and sometimes they stretch due to plain old aging and thinning of the skin.

Gauge piercings, which create large openings in the earlobe, are sometimes used for cultural expression or as a fashion statement. However, they can lead to significant stretching over time, and some patients eventually tire of their gauges. Repair of large gauges often requires some finesse and local tissue rearrangement, but these cases can be really satisfying.

The Earlobe Repair Procedure

Earlobe repair is typically a minor surgery performed in our office procedure room. Local anesthesia is used, allowing you to be awake throughout the procedure. The earlobe numbs up easily and quickly. If the tear is complete or nearly complete, we will typically remove a small amount of skin and close the tear in a straight line, closing up the piercing entirely. If we try to leave an opening, sometimes it stays too large so it’s more predictable to close it up and re-pierce later. We’ll put tiny stitches on the front and back of the ear.

For gauge repairs, the process is similar, but we often need to rearrange your earlobe skin and remove a bit of the stretched part to get the shape of the lobe back to normal.

Other Earlobe Procedures

Did you know that it’s common for earlobes to become thin and droopy as we age? Occasionally we will use injectable filler to give a boost to droopy earlobes, and sometimes we plan earlobe reductions if there’s simply too much tissue. Both of these procedures are also quick and comfortable, with little to no recovery.

Post-Surgery Recovery and Care

Recovery from earlobe repair is generally quick and comfortable. Patients can usually resume normal activities immediately after the procedure, though it’s advisable to be gentle with the ears for the first few days. Some minor discomfort and swelling are normal but typically subside quickly.

Sutures are usually removed after a week. For those wondering about future piercings, it’s generally safe to re-pierce the ears about 3 months after the procedure, once the incision has healed and softened. For our earlobe repair patients, we offer precise re-piercing once you’re healed.

Insurance and Cost

As earlobe repair is typically considered a cosmetic procedure and insurance plans do not cover it. Because this is a simple procedure that can be done in our office procedure room, there are no extra facility or anesthesia costs.

A Permanent Solution for Earlobe Problems

If you’re dealing with stretched, torn, or gauge-damaged earlobes, earlobe repair surgery could be an excellent solution. The procedure is straightforward, and recovery is typically uncomplicated. Give us a call at (802) 444-4421 to talk about getting your earlobes back to normal so you can show off your favorite earrings again!