Ear Split/Elongation Repair
Earlobes sometimes elongate or split—most commonly after years of heavy earrings or from trauma to the ear. The great news is these changes can typically be repaired by Dr. Buster via a simple outpatient surgical procedure. The process begins with an initial consult visit in order for Dr. Buster to determine if you are a candidate for this procedure and for her to tell you what to expect. For the repair visit, Dr. Buster and her staff thoroughly clean and sterilize the area and anesthetize (numb) the area to be treated. Sometimes (depending on size, etc.) Dr. Buster will prescribe an antibiotic for you (dispensed from our office) to take immediately prior to the repair. Dr. Buster then removes some of the normal skin from the elongated hole or split and then sutures (stiches) the new edges together. The site is then bandaged and wound care instructions are reviewed. Depending on the size of the split/elongation and if one or both ears are treated, this process can take anywhere from 15-40 minutes from cleaning to bandaging.  Sutures are removed 7-10 days after surgery. The ear can usually be re-pierced at a later date at our office. Re-piercing time may be weeks to sometimes months later depending on the location of repair, size, and sometimes other factors.

Ear Gauge Repair
Ear gauges have become increasingly common accessories in recent years. You may have decided to stop wearing gauges and now want your earlobes to be returned to a more natural appearance. Like earlobe repair, ear gauge repair is a straight-forward outpatient surgical procedure performed by Dr. Buster. You will have a pre-surgical consult just as above with ear split repairs. Given the large variety in the appearance of gauged earlobes, this consult is important for planning and discussing what you should expect. The procedure itself is similar to above, but it involves more rearrangement of the tissue and suturing. Your repair is usually done in 30-60 minutes—again depending on if both ears are repaired, the amount of tissue removed, and the number of sutures required, among other considerations. As with ear split/elongation repair, sutures are removed 7-10 days after surgery.