Earlobe Repair/Repair of Gauged Ear Gallery

An Asian woman in her later 20s with a history of gauges since she was 15.  She took them out 6 years ago but would wear plugs during meetings so that the ears did not stand out.  She no longer likes the gauged appearance and would like to be able to wear normal earrings.  She is shown before and again, 6 ½ weeks after an L plasty-type repair under local anesthesia in the office.  We are having her use topical silicone now to help with scar maturation and she is protecting them from UV exposure to decrease the risk of scar darkening ( “post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation”)

Before, Immediately after, and then 6 1/2 months after secondary gauges repair.

A woman in her early 30’s with bilateral gauges.  She has had gauges since her mid-teens and was gauged up to as large as an inch.  This no longer fits her lifestyle and she wanted to have them repaired and to be able to wear normal earrings again.  She is shown before and again, 5 ½ months after Z-Plasty repair and again, just after re-piercing in the office

Photos are shown before surgery with the gauges in, with the gauges out, and with the z-plasty marked and injected with local anesthetic.

A woman in her early 30’s with gauges.  She needs to have this corrected so that she can become a police officer.  She is shown before and again, 6 weeks after “z plasty of Borneo” correction.

A woman of color in her early 40’s who had her ears pierced initially in Ethiopia when she was very young. She does not have a history of “gauges”, but her holes have always been large.  Because of their size, they are similar to correcting the deformity from gauges.  She is shown before and again, 3 months after repair under local anesthesia in the office.

Details: A man in his later 20s who has gauged ears and no longer likes the appearance.  He started gauging his ears when he was 13.  The appearance of his ears restricts his future career opportunities and he would like them to look normal again.  He is shown before and again, 6 weeks after repair in the office under local anesthesia.  Scars are typically at their reddest and thickest at  6 weeks and will then typically fade and soften over the next 2 years.  We are having him start topical silicone to help the scars to mature faster. The scars are red as we would expect at just 6 weeks but the new contour is excellent.

A woman with gauges in her late 30s, who no longer likes the appearance and wishes to be able to wear normal earrings.  She is shown before and again, 3 months after the reconstruction of her gauged earlobes in the office under local anesthesia and again, just after re-piercing.  She is thrilled to have normal-appearing ears again.

A woman in her early 30’s who had gauges when she was 19.  She no longer likes the look and the size of the holes makes it difficult to wear traditional earrings.  She has had the gauges out for 2 years.  She is shown before and again, 3 months after bilateral gauges repair, and again, just after re-piercing her ears for her in the office.  Scars typically become thicker and redder for 6 weeks and then fade and improve over the next 2 years

A woman of color in in mid 30’s with partial splits and drooping of her earlobes She attributes this to wearing heavy earrings and sleeping with her earrings in.  She is shown before and again, 3 months after bilateral earlobe lift in the office, done by excising 11 mm wedges from each side.  I had her start topical silicone at 6 weeks to help with the scarring.  She is also shown immediately after re-piercing her ears in the office.

Discussion:  We could have simply repaired the split.   But the ears had a droopy appearance which was not pleasing to the eye.  An earlobe lift performed at the same time gives her a more beautiful and youthful appearing earlobe.