Ear Lobe Repair in New York City
Ear reconstruction for split earlobe repair is not be as sexy as say, breast implant surgery, nor as popular as botox injections for eliminating facial wrinkles nor as confidence building as zapping off errant facial hairs with the latest laser technology. But if you’re a candidate for lobuloplasty (that’s the tongue-twisting medical name for reparation of torn or split ear lobs) then sexiness, popularity and hairiness are the least of your concerns.
Hardly anyone pays too much attention to ears, but they are absolutely necessary appendages. Aside from using them to hear, you need them for hooking your eyeglasses to your face, and for attaching earplugs and Bluetooth devices. For some individuals, their most important trait is for a place to show off lovely jewellery.
It is, unfortunately, that lovely jewellery which is often the cause of earlobe injuries. Earlobes are simultaneously delicate and strong; when you consider them – just a tiny bit of skin with a little fat between it – enduring lots of pulling and tugging and having something that weighs more than it dangling from it every single day – well, it’s pretty amazing that this little flap of skin isn’t injured more often.
In truth, heavy, dangling, jangly earrings that are worn regularly (daily, not just on date nights) can stretch an earring hole to the point where it’s no longer pinhole-sized, but an outright slash. Likewise, some jewellery might catch the eye (and fingers) of a curious youngster who thinks nothing of giving them a good tug, but instead of the earring just pulling loose, the hole rips, sometimes all the way down causing a split in the lobe.
Fortunately, ear reconstruction for split earlobe repair is a common enough, simple enough, surgical procedure. From start to finish, the whole procedure can be counted in minutes, not hours, and the sutures that hold the seam together will be out within a week or two. Usually, the only dressing needed is simple antibiotic ointment, but if you are really keen to dress it up (or miss your earrings a little too much) a child’s decorative dot plaster will surely work.
Some surgeons will immediately re-pierce the lobe following suturing if that is really what you want. Recovery time of ear reconstruction for split earlobe repair is probably the hardest part – especially if you’re fanatical about your earrings. If that’s the case – time to consider clip-on earrings, which have come a long way from the ugly things your grandmother wore eons ago.
Repair of the split earlobe is a common procedure that is easily done in the office at a low cost. In some cases, the ear lobe hole is merely enlarged (and almost torn through) but most cases have a complete tear creating an inverted V look. Depending on the earlobe problem, reconstruction can take different forms. In every method used, however, the skin lining the hole or tear is removed creating fresh new skin edges from to rebuild.
There are numerous minor variations to earlobe repairs, all with the intent of leaving the earlobe with a smooth and non-notched outer skin border. Whether it be a straight-line closure, z-plasty, rim w-plasty, or jelly-roll technique, they all can work successfully if done well. Over the years, I have found that the straight-line closure will work in most cases. The fear of a notched earlobe rim has not been borne out in my experience. The key is to do a complete resection of all skin edges of the tear so that a tension-free closure can be done.
After an earlobe repair, there are some small sutures that I will need to remove in a week. There are no dressings or special care that needs to be done after. One can shower and get the ear wet as normal. There is virtually no pain after and only a very mild amount of swelling.
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