Earlobe Repair Procedures

Located in Raleigh, North Carolina serving patients in Raleigh, Cary and Durham NC.

Earlobe repair is a commonly-performed office surgery that can easily be accomplished under local anesthesia. The most frequently performed procedure is repair of ‘split earlobes’, where years of earring wear have gradually elongated an earlobe piercing site into a vertical slit. That vertical slit, if not repaired, will eventually result in an earring completely pulling through the remaining bridge of skin – which creates the ‘split earlobe’ appearance.

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While split earlobe repair is quite common, we often see patients who seek repair of the elongated piercing sites before an earring completely pulls through and creates the split appearance. It is also very common in our practice to surgically shorten elongated earlobes, as earlobes frequently become stretched out through heavy earring wear, the aging process, or a combination of both. Elongated earlobes are a feature of facial aging, and shortening them slightly can contribute to a noticeably more youthful appearance.

Earlobes also become thinner and a bit ‘lifeless’-appearing as a result of gradual fat atrophy, which is another normal aspect of the aging process. We frequently perform earlobe fat grafting to restore a fuller, more robust and more youthful earlobe appearance. Fuller earlobes are a sign of youth and also display earrings in a more favorable manner. Earlobe fat grafting can be performed in concert with any earlobe repair surgery, and can also be performed as a stand-alone procedure when earlobe atrophy is the only cosmetic concern.