For centuries, women have been wearing jewelry to enhance their physical beauty and appearance. Let’s face it ladies, we all love sporting ear jewelry to complement our pretty faces, but those dazzling fashion statements can have consequences; whether it’s from wearing large ear plugs, an accidental tear, or by natural aging, earlobes are damage prone.
The good news is that this can be corrected with earlobe repair surgery. This procedure is usually performed under local anesthesia and will take approximately 45 minutes to an hour. After sterilizing the surgical site and stabilizing one or both earlobes, our general practitioner will make an incision near the split or hole in the earlobe to remove excess skin and cartilage. The two sides of the earlobe are then sewn together with sutures. The wound edges are held together by several very fine stitches. A dressing is placed for about 24 hours and thereafter a thin wound covering remains. After surgery patients usually do not need any pain medication. A dose of Tylenol or Advil may be beneficial for those who feel a slight ache at the repair site. Discomfort should usually disappear within 48 hours. Sutures usually will be removed within 5 to 7 days thereafter.
If you later decide to have the ears pierced again, you may do so after you have healed completely. Be careful not to have your ear re-pierced in the scar or just above the scar. The scar is weaker than the surrounding tissue so it will tear more easily. You should wait at least about 16 weeks before you re-pierce again. Avoid heavy earrings for at least 6 months after repair surgery. For safety reasons, it is important to use gold or platinum earrings, since these are pure metals and will not react with the surrounding tissue. These earrings must remain in place for at least two months. Correction is very effective in restoring original earlobe appearance with a very acceptable small scar left behind.