Most of your youthful indiscretions remain firmly in the past; only you and your friends really know what wild things you got into back in the day. The exception, of course, are the things that leave visible reminders, lobe gauging being the most obvious example.
Stretching the earlobes is a tradition that goes back many centuries in many different countries. From Africa to America, body modifying has taken on many forms, and ear stretching has actually been a way to show increased social status. Today, the tradition continues, but more as a way of making yourself stand out in a sea of normal. And so, what you might have thought cool and awesome as a youth, you are now discovering may hinder you both socially and economically as you enter adulthood.
Fortunately, advances in medical technology can help bring your ears back to the norm, and if your abnormal lobes aren’t caused by youthful indiscretions, but come from the normal wear and tear of aging, the same procedures can help restore the appearance of lobes stretched out from years of wearing heavy and dangling earrings. Earlobe reduction surgery and earlobe repair surgery are two ways of restoring your delicate lobes back to a normal appearance.
Earlobe Reduction Surgery
Long and heavy earrings hanging from your ears certainly look beautiful, but for those of you who have been wearing this type of jewelry for more years than you care to remember may find yourselves with earlobes that are torn and extend further than they used to. Earlobe reduction surgery (otoplasty) can restore your lobes to their former glory. This procedure takes approximately 30 to 90 minutes and comes with minimal scarring that hides itself in the folds of skin that rest behind the ear. Using only a local anesthetic and a mild sedative, the recovery period takes about four hours, but you should wait about eight weeks from when the procedure was performed to pierce your ears again.
Earlobe Repair Surgery
Designed for those who have increased the size of their piercings with gauges, earlobe repair surgery, another form of otoplasty, is also performed under a local anesthetic with only a small incision to remove damaged skin. The incision is then stitched together, leaving behind small scars that are hardly noticeable and fade over time. Recovery is immediate, but the patient will need to wait eight weeks if re-piercing is desired.
Skin & Vein Center
Whenever a surgical procedure is performed, there will always be risks involved, but both of the aforementioned procedures come with minimal risks. Schedule your consultation with the Skin & Vein Center today and discover what we can do for you!