Ear Otoplasty and Ear Piercing?

Hi,

If your otoplasty is healing well and has no complications, or infections, it will be safe to have the ear lobe pierced about two weeks after your surgery.  

There is really no time restriction on this, however, it would be best to wait for the incisions to appear more healed before proceeding.

Dr. Torkian

Ear piercing should generally be safe by 6 weeks after ear pinning surgery (otoplasty) but you should discuss this with your surgeon.

Adding another piercing to the earlobe after otoplasty could probably be done as soon as a couple weeks after surgery. Never, ever pierce the cartilage portions of the ears, however. Never!

Also, you might want to let your surgeon pierce your earlobe rather than the pimply-faced kid at the mall, just to be safe. ;-)

Good luck,

--DCP

There is no definitive time frame on when to pierce the ear lobe after otoplasty. Ideally at one of your follow up visits, have your surgeon do it for you. I have done this at the same time as the procedure with no problems. Best regards. Dr D

The reason various doctors give different answers is that the question requires one to weigh the desire of re-piercing the ear versus the strength of the repair.
The human body heals by laying down a protein called collagen.  This collagen then undergoes chemical cross-linking to increase strength.  Animal studies suggest that an incision line obtains its maximal strength at about 6 months.
But who wants to wait 6 months to re-pierce their ears?
So surgeons will often instruct patients to weight a certain period of time based on their risk tolerance, the patient's desire to re-pierce their ears, and prior experience.