Otoplasty Blogs
- Category: Otoplasty
Skin tags are a common but bothersome small, soft growth of skin. These excess tissues primarily appear on the neck, armpits, and eyelids and typically do not pose any health risks. Some patients, however, develop very visible skin tags on the ears, and can feel uncomfortable with their appearance. Dr. Charles Thorne can safely perform ear skin tag removal surgery at his New York City practice. Dr. Thorne has over 25 years of experience performing a variety of cosmetic ear surgeries, and can provide safe, effective care to help you achieve your desired aesthetics.
What are Skin Tags?
Skin tags are among the most common skin growths, are harmless, and usually do not need to be removed. However, most patients are unsatisfied with their appearance and thus seek to remove them. Skin tags can grow anywhere, but are most commonly found on the neck, armpits, groin area, and under the breasts. These growths are also known to be found on the eyelids and ears. While anyone can develop a skin tag, they are most prominent in older individuals, especially those with diabetes, and those who are obese. Pregnant women are also likely to develop skin tags, which is most likely due to their fluctuating hormones. Further, skin tags are known to develop where clothing rubs against the skin the most.
"Dr. Thorne can safely and painlessly remove ear skin tags during a quick five to 10 minute procedure at his office."
Skin Tags and Moles
Skin tags are commonly mistaken for moles or freckles. While they may seem similar, they are very different. Almost every individual will have a mole at some point in their lifetime, if not several. Moles are skin growths that are usually benign, and have a tan, brown, or black tone. They are caused by a cluster of cells growing in one area, and can be flat or raised. Moles can grow larger and can lead to serious issues, such as skin cancer. Skin tags do not pose this same risk. Patients can typically identify a skin tag rather because they are moveable, usually being held to the skin by only a small stalk of skin. Conversely, moles are generally fixed to the surface of the skin and cannot be moved.
Removing Ear Skin Tags
Dr. Thorne can safely and painlessly remove ear skin tags during a quick 15 minute procedure at his office. There are a variety of methods that can be used for the removal of your skin tag. These growths can be burnt or frozen off. Dr. Thorne can also surgically remove skin tags using a local anesthetic to minimize discomfort before excising the tissue. In some cases, you can also attempt to remove your skin tag on your own if it is small enough. If you pursue this route, make sure you secure the base by using dental floss to restrict its blood supply. Then you can take sterile scissors and cut the skin tag as close to the base as possible. Bleeding is normal and should subside momentarily.
Schedule a Consultation
If you have a skin tag on your ear that you would like removed quickly and safely, contact our office today. Dr. Thorne can help you remove irritating tissue to improve the aesthetics of your ear and your confidence.
- Category: Otoplasty
Millions of individuals worldwide wear earrings and the vast majority of people have no complications from their pierced ears. There are, however, a number of situations where ear piercings require surgical attention. The most common example is the patient whose ear piercings, usually from years of wearing earrings, become elongated and unsightly. In some cases the the earrings tear completely through the bottom of the earlobe leaving a cleft in the lobe requiring repair.
More dramatic problems result from piercings of the upper portion of the ears. The earlobe contains no cartilage and the piercings are less likely to result in major problems. Piercings of the upper two-thirds of the ear must penetrate the cartilage. As with earlobe piercings, this is rarely problematic but when an infection does occur it can invade the cartilage causing permanent crumpling or distortion of the ear. The various complications described above, however, can be repaired. If you have experienced complications with your earrings, Dr. Charles Thorne can perform earlobe repair surgery in New York City.
Understanding Piercing Complications
Causes
The external ear, also called the auricle, is the visible portion of the human ear that is responsible for collecting sound and guiding it into the middle and inner ears. The auricle has another function in today’s society: to support earrings! The auricle is made up of a sandwich of skin and thin, bendable cartilage except in the earlobe where there is no cartilage. Ear piercings are commonly performed in all portions of the external ear. Over time, excessive stretching or weight from jewelry can cause the earlobe to sag until an elongated piercing or even a complete tear occurs. The elongated piercings can be unsightly. The complete tears cause an even more visible deformity and make it difficult to wear earrings at all.
Can a Torn Earlobe be Corrected?
Dr. Thorne uses a variety of surgical techniques to repair torn or stretched earlobes as well as deformities in the upper portion of the ear. In most cases, damaged earlobes can be surgically corrected with a simple outpatient procedure that takes about 20 to 30 minutes. Dr. Thorne will examine your ear and determine if your problem can be surgically repaired. You will be given the option for sedation, but most patients experience little discomfort when using only local anesthesia and this avoids the time and expense associated with a higher level operating room.
After local anesthesia is injected, the edges of the old piercing or the torn lobe are excised to create clean, fresh edges that will allow uncomplicated healing. The earlobe will then be sutured in layers using either a straight line or a zig-zag pattern, depending on the unique nature of each case.
"In most cases, torn earlobes can be surgically corrected with a simple outpatient procedure that takes about 20 to 30 minutes."
Piercing a Repaired Earlobe
In order to allow enough time for the tissues to heal and develop enough strength to hold a new earring, you should wait several months before receiving another ear piercing. Dr. Thorne is happy to re-pierce your earlobe in a mutually agreeable location when an appropriate amount of time has passed. It is important to remember that your earlobe is susceptible to damage since it has already been surgically repaired. Use caution when wearing large, hooped earrings that could become caught on other objects, and avoid wearing heavy earrings that pull on the lobe.
More Significant Deformities from Piercing
In the case of more significant deformities related to ear piercing such as infections and distortion, Dr. Thorne may have to remove cartilage from behind your ear or even from your rib cage to reinforce the distorted part of the external ear.
Have Beautiful Ears
If you are dissatisfied with the appearance of your ears, Dr. Thorne can probably help you. Contact our office today to schedule a consultation.
- Category: Otoplasty
- Local anesthesia unless young child
- 30-60 minutes per ear
- Incision behind ear and inside the rim
- Dressing removed in 3 days
- Sutures removed in 5-7 days
- Recovery: Exercise in 2 weeks. Full exercise, swimming 3 weeks
In patients with excessively large ears, a slightly different procedure is performed. Ears vary tremendously in size but the average adult male ear is about 2.5 inches long and the average adult female ear is slightly shorter. Children's ears are smaller but not much so as the ears barely grow after age 10 years.
The ears are reduced in length with minimal incisions and are also setback if necessary. The procedure, depending on whether a standard setback otoplasty is performed at the same time, takes about 1 hour per ear.
Otoplasty with ear reduction is a particularly gratifying procedure because many patients are self conscious about their ears and have been told that there is nothing that can be done.
Otoplasty procedures can frequently make a dramatic difference in self-image, transforming a patient from one who is self-conscious and constantly trying to hide his/her ears with hair styles/hats to one who loves his/her appearance and feels free to wear short hair or hair styles that expose the ear.
View answers to frequently asked questions for more information.
- Category: Otoplasty
- Can be done as isolated 30 min procedure under local anesthesia.
- Usually repaired with facelift revision.
- Local or sedation with Anesthesiologist.
- Does not add time to the facelift revision.
- No dressing.
- Sutures removed in 7 days.
- Normal exercise, swimming, yoga 3 weeks.
Before & After Patient Photos
Unfortunately, one of the most common results of an amateurish facelift procedure is distortion of the ear. Because facelift incisions are made around and in the ear, care is required to avoid distortion of any portion of the ear or the sideburn or hairline around the ear.
When ear distortion after facelift surgery has occurred, it is often possible to improve the situation. If the earlobe is pulled down, for example, with a visible scar around it (so-called pixie ear), the cheek can often be pulled up under the lobe to correct the appearance.
- Category: Otoplasty
- Local anesthesia
- 20 minutes per ear
- No dressing
- Sutures removed in 7 days
Some patients are unhappy with the length of their earlobes. This can occur in young patients but is even more common in older patients whose earlobes have elongated with aging. A simple earlobe shortening procedure can be performed under local anesthesia to reduce and reshape the earlobe so that it has a more attractive and, in many cases, more youthful appearance. When the earlobes are shortened it is often necessary to move the site of ear piercing to a higher position so that it looks appropriate in the new lobe.
Some patients have elongated earring holes or holes that have completely torn through the earlobe. These elongated or torn ear piercings can be repaired and the ears re-pierced several months later.
Some earlobes are the correct length and shape but have deflated with age. Injecting filler material and/or fat into the earlobe can often make a wrinkled, deflated ear appear more youthful.
Earlobe shortening is often performed as an isolated procedure but can also be performed at the time of an otoplasty procedure or at the time of a facelift procedure. Dr. Thorne offers a range of ear rejuvenation techniques which can improve the overall appearance of your ears.
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Dr. Thorne is the Editor-in-Chief and the author of several chapters in Grabb and Smith's PLASTIC SURGERY, 7th Edition.
Ear Construction Chapter in PDF
