Synergy Plastic Surgery
Austin, Texas
Austin has always been a “cool” location in a warm climate. Its bohemian flair established in the 1960s lives on today in the hip downtown districts and intercity farms that dot it’s hill country landscape. With thousands of young people flooding into the area each month it’s no wonder that body art and earrings once only seen in Saharan Africa are now as commonplace as longhorn logos.
According to Wikipedia “ear stretching is a modification practiced by and originating from indigenous peoples. Tribes in various countries in Africa, Eurasia, America and other indigenous lands have practiced the ritual of ear stretching for cultural, religious and traditional purposes. This is a ritual that has been practiced by people all over the world from ancient times. Bone, horn, wood, and stone were generally carved for ear stretching, but other organic materials that had the right shape naturally, from shells to teeth and claws, were also used.”
In fact the most revered of ancient mummies King Tutankhamen apparently was a trend setter as his body shows earlobes which have undergone stretching. They say fashion trends tend to return in future decades, but I’ll bet most Austin hipsters don’t have a clue that this trend dates back as far as 3300BC.
At my Austin plastic surgery practice, I have noticed a recent trend of patients seeking reversal of their stretched or “gauged” earlobes in search of a more traditional appearance. While everyone has their own individual reasons, entry into the workforce and an attempt to get ahead in an already voraciously competitive 20-something marketplace is clearly a common theme.
From a young woman wanting to gain entry to the top tier of American colleges to a young man approached by a national modeling chain, each patient is looking for a new foothold in their life and see reconstructed earlobes as their ticket to the American dream.
While some pain and suffering is often required for body modification, having your earlobes repaired by a board certified plastic surgeon at Synergy Plastic Surgery leaves the suffering out of the equation. Fixing earlobes is actually relatively painless and take less than an hour to do. Patients have the pain nerves blocked with a quick injection similar to Novocain at the dentist’s office and then our surgeons work to establish a normal earlobe appearance. The technique differs with each patient but the goal is the same – establish symmetry and a normal curve of the ear lobe by removing the stretched skin and contouring the remaining normal anatomy.
The procedure has nearly a 100% patient satisfaction rate and all of our clients have gone on to find the societal acceptance they were looking for. Sutures stay in for about 10 days and scars fade quickly, in a few months it would be difficult for even our modeling patients to stand out for anything other than their naturally given good looks…
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