The most common causes of earlobe damage are:

• Traumatic tears
• Long earlobes due to age, gravity, and heavy earrings
• Large earring holes due to gauges or heavy earrings.
• Keloid scarring

Torn earlobe repair is most commonly performed in the office under local anesthesia.  The procedure will take about 15 to 20 minutes per ear (if there are two). The tear most commonly appears as as cleft in the earlobe.  

After the ear is numb, the edges are incised to give clean edges. The shape is reconstructed to make it more attractive and to match the opposite ear. Absorbable sutures are then placed. No dressing aside from maybe a band-aid is applied.

The procedure is relatively quick and is performed under local anesthetic. After the surgery you can expect the following:

• The ear will be sore to the touch and have slight bruising and swelling for the first couple of days.
• You will need to come in for suture removal in about 7-14 days.
• Strenuous exercise should also be avoided during this time to help in the recovery process. 
• Apply aquaphor ointment twice a day until the sutures are removed.
• Don’t sleep on your ears or apply any pressure to them until the sutures are removed.
• You can shower and get your ears wet 24 hours after the surgery.
• Avoid long soaks in the bath and swimming pools until the sutures are removed.
• Most patients will not need time off of work.
• Pain is negligible, most people don’t require any form of pain medication.

As with any surgery, there are associated risks. Only you can decide whether a earlobe repair can achieve your goals and whether the recovery is something you want to go through. Because of the nature of the surgery, the scars are essentially invisible. Complications are rare but can include:

• Local bleeding
• Infection particularly from the absorbable sutures
• Loss of sensation although rare
• Widened or thickened scar
• Asymmetry (unevenness between two sides)
• Delayed wound healing with skin or tissue necrosis
• Over-correction

Unsatisfactory results may require additional procedures. Patients will generally be responsible for any associated facility fee.

Your cost for ear surgery will depend on the degree and nature of the tear as well as whether we are addressing one or two ears. See the price card below. Note that you will receive a discount if two earlobes are involved.

Sometimes the repair will remove your ear piercing hole. If this happens you can re-pierce but we advise you to wait 4 – 6 weeks until after surgery to do so.

Depending on the trauma to the ear will depend on the scar. Dr. Chang works very hard to make the scar as invisible as possible. Talk the procedure over prior to surgery day so you know what will happen and whether you will have a visible scar. Most earlobe repairs do not have a visible scar.