Ear lobe damage is very common, especially with woman who wore the stylish dangling earings in the 1980′s. The piercing can stretch or tear right through. In addition, some people have ear lobes that are just too large. Ear lobe’s can be repaired without a great deal of effort on the part of the patient. Repairing a torn or stretched piercing is typically done at the initial patient visit after I explain the procedure. It takes around 15 minutes per ear lobe and is done with local anesthesia allowing the patient to resume there day as normal afterwards. Before the patient leaves the office we put a small band-aid on the ear which can be removed an hour or two later. The sutures are very small and about the size and color of fine blond hair. The sutures will dissolve about a week later. Patients can return 6 weeks afterwards and I will re-pierce the ears if you like. Cost for this depends on whether the ear is torn or stretched and if there is more than one piercing. I will tell you specifically before doing the procedure but expect to spend several hundred dollars.

Shrinking large ear lobes is a bit more involved. This takes about 45 minutes and is done with local anesthesia. There is a bit more healing involved but, for the most part, you can live life as normal starting later that day or the next. The details of this procedure need to be determined specficially for each patient.

Ear gauge repair is a relatively new thing as the practice seems to have just become popular a few years ago. Repairing the extensive stretching of an ear lobe after a guage is more tricky but certainly doable and usually results in a nearly normal ear lobe once healed. Again, this is typically done with just local anesthesia. You should remove the guage several weeks before considering this procedure as the earlobe will shrink-up on its own to some extent.