More seeking to undo stretched earlobes

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10-18-2006 Copy of Body Piercing: The Ear

Updated: February 10, 2012 8:33AM

Some plastic surgeons are reporting an increase in younger clients who are ready to undo a fashion statement that has left a lot of people with a lot of sagging earlobe.

Sometimes called “gauging,” the process involves inserting earlobes with plugs or disc earrings.

San Francsco surgeon Dr. David Kahn saw his first ear distortion two years ago and has worked on half a dozen patients since, he said. The typical fix-it cost: $1,800.

To repair a stretched lobe, surgeons make tiny incisions to release the hanging flesh, then smooth whatever lobe remains to make the ear’s surface look natural again.

YouTube videos of the procedure can churn the stomach, yet the online presence has also brought several new clients to Dr. Haresh Yalamanchili, a Houston plastic surgeon who has gained some fame as “the guy who does ears.”

Yalamanchili said he performed 14 such operations last year and has booked several more for the start of 2012.

“At some point, people are going to think about how they’re perceived when they enter the work force,” he said. “They need to know they have an opportunity to change.”

Oakland, Calif., resident Coleton Tidwell once could fit a golf ball through the hole in his earlobe.

Tidwell, now 21, pierced his ears at age 18 with the intent of stretching them for show. It took him almost a year of steadily increasing the gauge of the disc earrings until he reached an inch and a half — his lobes touched his shoulders if he tilted his head slightly.

“I went a little too far with it,” Tidwell said. “Then it was like, ‘OK, so how do I fix it now that I’m done with this phase in life?’ . . . I didn’t like the stigma that came with it.”

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