Pat Butcher
Big chunky 'Pat Butcher' style earrings aren't just a crime against fashion but they are also leading to a rise in ear surgery.
According to doctors in America heavy earrings can be a dangerous fashion accessory from which more and more women are seeking surgery.
At first, patients with tears in their earlobes from wearing heavy earrings are told to simply stop wearing them in order to let the lobe heal on its own, but often that doesn’t work.
"Just removing the earring often times does not allow the hole to close because that has become a mature tract", says Richard Ha, plastic surgeon on the medical staff at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. "Fortunately, there’s a relatively simple solution to the problem."
According to plastic surgeons, it’s becoming more and more popular for patients to get their lobes surgically repaired.
"It’s a pretty simple procedure actually. It probably takes about 30 minutes to an hour in the office under local anesthesia," explains Dr. Ha.
Surgical repair of torn earlobes can vary between $300 and $1,500 depending on how severe the tear is and whether or not you need one or both earlobes done.