After a Facelift when Can I Wear Earrings?

I generally advise patients to wait at least one month prior to wearing earrings.  The earlobe interface with the face is a very gentle and important one in facelift surgery.  Too much pressure along the ear can lead to earlobe tears or cause the earlobe to heal at a lower position which is less desirable.  

Your answer really is whatever your surgeon recommended. I do think that wearing light earrings after 1.5-2 weeks should cause any harm to your incisions especially if some deep absorbable sutures have been placed in strategic areas (like the earlobe!).

Hope your enjoying the results.

I keep it simple and say wait 2 weeks unless there is a post operative issue. My biggest concern is that you don't pull your lobe off the skin taking a sweater off!

I would wait two weeks. Usually there is an incision just below the earlobe and it would be best not to be pulling on it too soon. Also be sure that you have good feeling in the earlobe. Sometimes it will take a while for the feeling to return and you don't want to lose an earring.

I have no objections to patients wearing earrings directly after facelift provided no adjustments have been made to the earlobe.

I generally will recommend patients avoid placing any tension on the ears for 6 weeks after surgery.  I do place deeper sutures that are in place for about that period of time in the lobule anchoring the lobe upward.  As you likely are aware, one of the most common irregularities that can develop after a facelift is referred to as a pixie ear deformity.  Essentially this occurs if the ear is not anchored correctly during the healing phase, and the tensions of the tissues draw the earlobe skin downward.  Although is can be corrected, it requires a fair amount of work and does require reopening the original incisions around the ear from the facelift.

Therefore, be cautious and speak with your surgeon.  He or she knows this area in your particular case better than anyone.

Todd Hobgood, MD

toddhobgood.com

There is no reason not to wear earrings after face lift unless they are very big and heavy or there was something done to the earlobe as well.

             The incisions should be healed, and the earrings should be modest in weight.                                                                                                                                     Kenneth Hughes, MD                                                                                                                                        Los Angeles, CA

  Of course, you can wear earrings after a facelift and I am sure that there is no hard and fast rule as to when you may begin.  Questions like this are best left to your surgeon who is in a better position to assess the speed of your recovery than anyone on this forum.  But sometime between 2-3 weeks after surgery would likely be okay.

Generally wait 2-3 weeks following a facelift to wear earrings. I commonly reduce the size of the earlobe during a facelift to achieve a more youthful look. When I reduce the earlobe size I usually excise the old piercing. Therefore I wait 4 weeks for the earlobe to heal before it is re pierced. You need to be careful tugging or pulling on the earlobe as well as it is only attached by a few very tiny sutures.