Earlobe Tears

Because piercings are susceptible to the environment around you, they are often caught on objects and torn. This is especially true of earlobe piercings. For those of you who have ever caught a piercing on a shirt or on your hair, you know the tweak of pain it will cause, and can imagine how it would feel to tug out the entire piercing.

We distinguish two types of tears: slow and fast.

By far the most common cause of slow earlobe tears in women is wearing jewelry that is simply too heavy - large hoop earrings are the most common offenders. The piercings slowing increase in size until the lobe is torn completely through. These gradual tears are usually without symptoms and bleeding does not occur.
In a fast tear, an earring is suddenly yanked or pulled out, and the area will be painful and may bleed. Immediately after the tear, if the skin lining the slot is raw, there is a possibility of infection.

A tear in the earlobe or margin of the ear leaves a notch in the otherwise smooth continuous edge. This defect is usually very visible and will require repair by your doctor. Depending on the deformity, surgical reconstruction can take several forms. In all methods, the area is numbed with an anesthetic and the skin lining the slot of the piercing is removed to create a raw edge. The raw edges are brought directly together using a combination of dissolvable stitches in the deeper layers and skin sutures that are removed after 10 days. In this operation, you lose the piercing hole, but after several months of healing, the ear can be pierced again if desired.

A second method is sometimes used for repair where a flap is used to redistribute tissue and sculpt the shape of the ear. If your ear piercing has been closed and you want a new hole pierced, it is best to wait six months after surgery. With all repaired lobes, it is best to avoid heavier jewelry or the newly pierced area may tear again. Clip on earrings may be worn for six weeks or so after surgery.