Getting ears back into shape!

CTV Calgary: Surgery to close the holes There appears to be a growing demand for surgery to repair large holes in the ear from piercings. Karen Owen has more.

Ear repair surgery is becoming trendy – as a way to fix a previously trendy fashion statement – lobe gauging or earlobe stretching.

Dr. Kristina Zakhary is a surgeon in Calgary.  She says ten years ago she had very few requests for corrective surgery to close the gaping holes, now she sees two or three people each week.

The reconstruction isn’t a technique she learned in medical school, it’s something she has developed.  Dr. Zakhary says “it's a combination I have refined in order to fix stretched gauged earlobes”.

Leanna Richard has undergone surgery to close two holes in the top of her ears and two large holes in her ear lobes.

Richard says “my style has changed and I’m really excited about getting my ears pierced again and wearing little earrings”.

Dr. Zakhary uses local freezing and closes the hole with carefully placed stitches so there is a faint scar, but no disfigurement.

Richard says she doesn’t regret the earlobe stretching but she adds “now my style has kind of changed and lucky for me Dr. Zakhary can make it look like it never happened”.