Ear rings are great, studs, big ones, small ones , all different colours and sizes. Usually wearing ear jewellery means having your ears pierced and this is often done at an early age – teen years or even younger. For most of us, ear piercing can be a long term and problem free. However, pierced ears can be troubled by irritation and infection. Eventually elongation or lengthening of the ear hole can occur. If ear jewellery continues to be worn, this problem can progress to complete splitting of the earlobe. Today we are going to discuss how to repair a split earlobe.
Split ear lobes can be prevented by:
- avoiding heavy tugging ear jewellery
- if infection or pain occurs, treat the infection
- give the area a rest for a week or two using only a non reactive good quality sleeper
So you have a split ear lobe or two – what can you do about it? Well there are very effective surgical repairs for split ear lobes that can be done in the office under local anaesthetic.
When I speak to someone about repairing a split earlobe, first I want to know is a repair WITH a usable ear piercing tract wanted or is a repair of the split only desired. I usually find my patients want a functioning tract following their repair.
How to Repair Split Earlobes
To repair a split earlobe with a tract restored, its more complicated than just sewing the split back up. It involves using a flap (a small tongue) of normal earlobe tissue adjacent to the split to curl around the base of the newly formed tract. This will form a bridge of healthy tissue that will support the new treat and prevent ear jewellery working its way downwards splitting the ear again.
The procedure is done under local anaesthetic in my office based operating facility. It takes around an hour to do. Following the procedure, a non reactive “sleeper” of nylon is used for several weeks while the repair heals and stitches are removed at about one week after the operation.
Repairing of split earlobe may be eligible for medicare rebates so a referral from your GP is worthwhile.
Split ear lobe? Don’t worry we’ll fix them! Contact Us today for more information!