According to a recent report in the Guardian newspaper, patients are paying around £1,800 to rebuild earlobes that have been damaged by flesh tunnels, stretching or gauging. Luckily, there are more affordable options available.
Like them or not, ear tunnels have been making a bold statement in the UK for a few years now. A controversial fashion trend, the holes are created by gradually placing an ear stretching cone into the ear and pushing it through a little further each day or by placing steadily larger sized tunnels into the hole every few weeks to widen it. This type of body modification has seen a huge increase in popularity recently, with celebrities, musicians and sportspeople now wearing flesh tunnels and other heavy gauge jewellery.
The world record for ‘stretching’ is held by a Hawaiian man, Kala Kaiwi, whose flesh tunnels measure more than 10cm (large enough to fit a fist through). This illustrates that whilst the skin on this area of the body can clearly stretch by huge proportions, it is important to note that a hole in the tissue of more than 10mm in diameter (1cm) will remain stretched permanently once the jewellery is removed.
For some, the novelty of this fashion trend has now worn off. Others have experienced negativity from prospective employers or have a desire to embark on a profession where they feel that this type of jewellery does not portray the right kind of image. Fortunately, experienced Plastic Surgeons are able to turn back time by reconstructing even drastically stretched earlobes, leaving their patient with a natural looking earlobe shape once again. Unfortunately the high prices being charged in some clinics and private hospitals are making this procedure unattainable for many of those young people who need it most.
Meet Consultant Plastic Surgeon Andrew Williams, who works in the Department of Plastic, Reconstrucive and Aesthetic Surgery in the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and also here with us at the Skin Surgery Clinic. He is able to undertake earlobe reconstruction and has achieved some incredible results for patients in the minor operations suite of our registered medical clinic.
“On the day of the procedure and after an initial consultation has taken place, I inject the earlobe with a local anaesthetic, remove a proportion of the excess skin and neatly stitch the remaining tissue back together to form a natural looking earlobe shape. The whole procedure takes about 45 minutes for one earlobe and for both, just over an hour. We ask patients to come in again for a free of charge review appointment a few weeks later to ensure that the earlobe is healing well and that’s the process from start to finish”
At the Skin Surgery Clinic, we believe in making this procedure affordable for our patients and are able to offer the following prices:
Consultation: £30
Single earlobe reconstruction: £575
Both earlobes reconstructed (during one procedure): £875
Review: FREE
We are able to offer our patients the option to spread the cost of the procedure over 6, 10 or 12 months via Direct Debit.
If you are interested in this procedure or any other skin surgery treatment on our website, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01943 882011 or drop into our registered medical clinic in Guiseley, Leeds. Our clinic is fully registered by the Care Quality Commission.
