All about Earlobe Surgery – what can be fixed, and how easy is it?
Aurora is now part of The Private Clinic, a nationwide group of clinics with over 35 years of experience specialising in Cosmetic Surgery and Skin and a Trust Pilot 5 star rating. For comprehensive information, before and after photos and costs on Earlobe repair procedures click here
Our expert Plastic Surgeon Adrian Richards is the Medical Director for The Private Clinic. Clinics are located in Birmingham, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Glasgow, London Harley Street, Leeds, Manchester and Northampton.
Earlobes. As far as we know, no love songs have ever been written about them, nor poetry inspired by them. But when you’ve got something about yours that you don’t like, you notice them all right.
It’s not one of the world’s more popular procedures, but earlobe surgery gets a lot of enquiries at our clinics, for a variety of reasons.
Most people who contact us have taken out ear stretchers and want to repair the holes left behind. Others have ripped earlobes from snagged earrings (ouch). And some simply want to reduce or reshape their earlobes, either because they don’t like their natural size and shape, or because they’ve elongated with age.
If any of those apply to you – great news. Since the earlobes don’t have any muscles or major blood vessels, earlobe surgery is safe and simple.
If you’re thinking about surgery, here’s a quick guide to the types of earlobe surgery available.
Stretched Earlobe Repair (‘tribal’ piercings)
If you’ve used ear plugs or gauges to stretch your ears, and decided to take them out, you might find your earlobes won’t shrink all the way back.
The ‘point of no return’, we’ve found, tends to be around the 12mm mark. Much bigger than this and you’ll need help from your friendly Plastic Surgeon to get your lobes back to their best.
Under local anaesthetic, a wedge shaped piece of tissue is removed, and the two loose ends carefully stitched back together. You won’t feel any pain, just some pressure and movement. And because it’s your ear, you will be able to hear some of what’s going on. So be prepared for that!
Though a simple procedure, you do need to see a surgeon who’s experienced in it. They need to be careful to precisely recreate the curve of your earlobe, avoiding any ‘step off’ (where the join isn’t smoothly contoured), or any other lumps and bumps.
Split Earlobe Repair (earring tears)
If an earring has torn through your earlobe, the repair technique is much the same as a stretched earlobe – though with less tissue removed. A small amount is taken from each side of the split, and the lobe carefully sutured back together as seamlessly as possible.
To see what it’s like, click on the video below to see Split Earlobe Repair being performed:
As with Stretched Earlobe Repair, it can be performed comfortably under local anaesthetic. Surgery takes only around 15 minutes per ear (quick enough to do in your lunch break), and recovery is usually very quick.
Once you’re fully healed, you’re fine to pierce your ears again, but we’d recommend waiting 6 weeks – and avoiding the site of the repair.
Earlobe Reduction
Even if earrings don’t tear your ears, heavy drop earrings can still lengthen them – as can the ageing process (ears famously keep growing throughout your life).
If long, droopy lobes, or oddly shaped ones, make you self-conscious about wearing earrings, changing hairstyles etc, Earlobe Reduction can give you smaller, neater lobes.
It’s carried out in the same way as the procedures above. A small wedge of tissue is removed under local anaesthetic, and the lobes stitched back together (see before and after – right).
The sutures stay in for approximately one week after surgery, and once healed the scars are virtually invisible.
‘See and Treat’ appointments for Earlobe Surgery
Many of our patients lead busy lives, so we’ve introduced ‘See and Treat’ appointments for some of our minor surgeries, including Earlobe Surgery.
If you book See and Treat, you’re able to have your consultation and surgery all in one visit, rather than needing to attend two separate appointments. Contact us via the details below to see if we offer it at a clinic near you.
Find out more about Earlobe Surgery
At Aurora Clinics, a number of our BAAPS registered surgeons are highly experienced in carrying out Earlobe Repair. We offer the procedure on a See and Treat basis at clinics throughout the UK, including Bucks, Northampton, Birmingham and London. To find out more about Earlobe Surgery or to book, please contact the team on 01324 578290 or email mailto:info@aurora-clinics.local.