How can I get natural looking earlobes after a facelift? (Photo)

It’s unfortunate that you’ve been unable to obtain a response from your surgeon for the past few months. It does appear that your earlobes can be reshaped with cosmetic ear surgery. Your procedure may possibly be performed under local anesthetic at your surgeon’s office. Please seek the opinion of a board certified plastic surgeon experienced in cosmetic ear surgery.

Earlobe repair is a common procedure in our plastic surgery office. I employ a technique that involves removing the excess scar tissue and reapproximating the tissue planes in multiple layers to recontour the earlobe after gauges, torn earlobes, or stretched out earlobes. Sometimes, the same procedure is used to restore contour to a pixie ear after facelift surgery or facial surgery. Gauge correction is a popular treatment. Insurance typically does not cover the procedure in California, but it all depends on your insurance policy. Costs are typically between six hundred dollars and one thousand dollars depending on the complexity of the repair. Pixie ear repair involves correction of the facelift flap and is a more complex procedure that requires anesthesia. Aftercare for earlobe repair involves proper wound care, Plato’s Scar Serum at least twice daily, with repiercing of the earlobe if requested, in 6 weeks. It is best to have a plastic surgeon perform the procedure and help with scars in the post-procedure period. Plato’s Scar Serum, wound care, and Neosporin are used.

Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian
Realself100 surgeon

This earlobe problem is common following facelift. There are many different solutions and ways to fix it, so the exact fix will be up to the surgeon's preference. All options involve making an incision at least around the lower part of the earlobe and rearranging some of the tissue. Portions of the incision may be left open to heal "by secondary intention" in order to look more appropriate. It is very difficult to get the earlobes to look exactly the same following this procedure, but hopefully you can get it looking very similar.

One study on facelift surgeries stated that the number one complication was earlobe complaints with regards to shape. It is certainly worth it to discuss with your surgeon revision of your earlobes although timing is also very important. Usually, one should wait 8 to 12 months prior to performing when the early scar tissue has subsided. Often it is a smaller procedure that can be performed under local anesthesia and should not take very long. Surgeons usually exert significant care during a facelift procedure to get the angle and shape of the ear lobe correct but there may be other factors in play in addition to the surgeon's attention to this. But a good honest discussion with your surgeon should be able to remedy this. If your surgeon advocates waiting time, he or she will explain to you the rationale for waiting.

I tend to agree with your surgeon that a secondary revision would be pretty straightforward. These are simple earlobes to correct compared to many I’ve seen.

Your right earlobe problem is a relatively common problem called a Pixie Ear that occurs post facelifting and has to do with how the skin was trimmed and the lobe attached to the deep tissues. Unfortunately, this is quite difficult to correct since you need to make the area of skin into which the lobe fits smaller. The left ear appears to be a totally different problem as you appear, from the pictures, to have a defect in the trigs and antitragus, which is cartilaginous, and you also have a problem with the earlobe attachment. What your surgeon means by "trim" is anyone's guess. At the very least, I would insist that he/she explain exactly what the plan is. If this does not make complete sense, I would see a very experienced plastic surgeon who has significant experience in this area.