How to Fix Large Earring Holes

Chandelier earrings can stretch your earlobe piercing and in the worst case pull right through the earlobe.

So many of my patients ask about their earlobes. Regular use of popular chandelier earrings can stretch your earlobe piercing and in the worst case pull right through the earlobe. The good news is that this can be fixed. There are two ways to fix a large earring hole. One is to simply cut out the existing hole and sew the skin back together. Then you can re-pierce the ear adjacent to the scar. The one thing we don't do is pierce directly into the scar. Why? Because that increases the risk of the hole stretching or tearing again.

If the hole is very large, then we must do something called a “pie earlobe repair.” A “pie earlobe repair” is performed by removing the large hole and the skin below it in the shape of a piece of pie and sewing the edges back together again. This type of repair is used when the hole is too large for a simple repair.

So, if you have large holes in your ear from wearing heavy earrings, there is a solution. See a dermatologist or plastic surgeon for an earlobe repair. Just keep in mind you won't be able to wear earrings for several weeks until it heals. Then you can re-pierce the ear at a different site and you will be wearing cute earrings again in no time.