Ear lobe surgery

Depending on the needs of the patient, the surgery will be tailored accordingly. If you feel that you have disproportionately large or stretched ear lobes, then a cosmetic reduction may be right for you. Careful consideration must be given to the type and placement of incisions for the best cosmetic outcome. There are different techniques to achieve this and it is something we will need to discuss and plan carefully. For example, there are considerations with regards to the desired shape of the lobe and whether the individual is after a ‘hanging’ or an ‘attached’ look and this can dictate the technique used. My aim overall, is to create ear lobes that are proportionate in size to the rest of the ear. If you have split ear lobes, the aim will be to repair these by removing the split and meticulously stitching the ear lobes back together again. The piercing is also usually removed (may be kept if needed) and this can be recreated 6 months or so later. This procedure is performed under local anaesthetic.

Yes, however your ears will continue to grow as you age, but this will all be in proportion. If very heavy earrings are worn for a long time after the repair, or the ear lobes are re-stretched with a large piercing, then the result will deteriorate. The lobes should be protected for 6 weeks after the surgery with a small paper tape dressing.

It will take approximately one hour and is performed under local anaesthetic.

A long acting anaesthetic injection is used for the procedure, which keeps the lobule numb for a number of hours. Afterwards there is some discomfort felt, but this is easily managed with simple oral analgesia.

The earlobes will be dressed with flesh coloured micropore tape. Stitches will need to be removed by the nurse at about one week. Strenuous exercise should be avoided for 2 weeks and no contact sports for 6 weeks. This is to prevent injury to the ears and re-splitting or tearing of the lobe. Using a single layer of the provided micropore tape on the scars for 6 weeks, will give the best results possible. If this is not tolerated, scar surgical massage is a good alternative, starting after the first 3 weeks when the wounds have healed. Scars should not be exposed to direct sunlight without the application of a high SPF cream for about a year and products such as Cicaplast contain both silicone and SPF block. There are however other alternatives.

This is a very safe procedure with minimal morbidity and down time. There are however some risks such as discomfort, hypersensitivity, small risk of infection, scarring, over/under correction, asymmetry, need for further correction and recurrence. In particular, the ear is notorious for its potential to form bad scars, such as hypertrophic or keloid scars. This is not common, but it is an unavoidable risk and something that can be very difficult to predict.