How Can My Earlobes Be Made Bigger?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I have very small earlobes since they were repaired from my gauging last year. After the repair the earlobes were too small and it bothered me greatly. A local ENT doctor that I saw talked me into using tissues from behind the ear to make an earlobe but it looked terrible. So I had him reverse the operation which now left me with scars behind my ears…but there is nothing I can do about that now. Is there anything I can do now to help make my earlobes bigger?

A: I am going to assume that these two sets of pics I have seen represent an initial attempt at local flap reconstruction of the earlobe which was subsequently taken down because you did not like how it looked. So the most recent pictures are the healed ear wounds now. I would first do some injectable fillers to stretch out the scar and surrounding skin of the earlobe. The purpose of the injectable fillers is to act like a temporary form of tissue expansion. It may take more than one injection to see how much they can stretch out over the course of a year.  Once the earlobes have been stretched out (if they will), you may eventually place a small dermal-fat graft in them for permanent volume maintenance.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana