Earlobes can stretched from the use of heavy earrings that elongate the earlobe.
There are also situation of stretching of earlobe piercing.
Fairly common, the piercing can be torn through, leaving the earlobe split.
Many people come in concerned about the appearance of their earlobes, particularly because of
the limitations associated with wearing earrings
I’m Dr Amiya Prasad.
I’m a Board Certified Cosmetic Surgeon and Fellowship Trained Oculofacial Plastic & Reconstructive
Surgeon.
I’ve been in practice in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years.
I often perform ear cosmetic surgeries for issues like bringing prominent ears closer
to head, correcting pixie ear deformities from facelift surgery, and reconstructive
ear surgeries such as repairing elongated and torn earlobes.
As with all cosmetic procedures, artistry is important.
I assess the amount of tissue present and determine the optimal way to restore the appearance
of a natural earlobe.
This means that there are times when there is so much stretching from age and the weight
of jewelry, an earlobe reduction is necessary.
Some situations are more straightforward such as an elongated piecing.
In this case, the skin is removed like removing the hole in a donut and the skin is the repaired.
After a few weeks of healing, the earlobe can be pierced.
My assistants and I will look with the patient for the ideal location of a piercing.
We place small gold stud earrings to allow the new hole to form which once fully healed
will allow the patient to put earrings of their choosing, of course I recommend that
the jewelry not be too heavy.
Often, the skin of the earlobe can be thinned from volume loss due to aging, causing them
to be floppy and stretched.
In such cases, the addition of using a cosmetic filler such as in the hyaluronic acid family
can augment the lost volume.
Cosmetic filler alone can be used if the ear was not significantly elongated.
In cases of elongation, then surgical earlobe reduction is needed.
Earlobe reduction is achieved by excising part of the stretched and elongated earlobe,
and surgically closing it with sutures to restore a more natural and attractive appearance
to the earlobe.
After healing, cosmetic filler can also be injected into the earlobe to add volume for
fullness and firmness.
The principles of earlobe reduction can also be applied to cases where the earlobe by accident
or prolonged use of heavier jewelry caused the earlobe to tear through.
The skin from the edges of the tear are excised, and then the two sides of the earlobe sutured
together.
Sutures from earlobe repair or reduction are removed after one week.
Patients can normally return to work the day of or the day after the procedure, which is
typically performed with local anesthesia.
Earlobe aesthetics are very important to many patients who I see in my practice.
Problems ranging from elongated piercings, to stretched and split earlobes can be addressed
effectively with artistically performed procedures routinely performed under local anesthesia.
I hope you found this information helpful...thank you for your question.