Watch This Video Of A Torn Earlobe Being Repaired And Prepare To Squirm

You can check out the video here:

New York City dermatologist Doris Day, M.D., author of the upcoming book Beyond Beauty, says this actually isn’t a rare procedure. “I do a lot of them,” she says, noting that people typically will have an earlobe repair done after their earring holes become distorted, either from heavy earrings or earrings that got caught on something and ripped. Once that happens, there’s no going back: “You’re just going to keep ripping it a little more,” she says.

Related: What It’s REALLY Like To Have A 10-Year-Old Cyst Removed

But this repair is not as simple as just sewing up the hole since your skin has healed around it. If doctors did that, it would simply open up again once the stitches were removed (Day likens it to sewing your fingers together—they’re going to unstick as soon as you take the stitches out).

So, doctors have to cut a fresh hole. “You have to create a fresh wound and then graft the skin back together,” Day says. The procedure typically takes anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes, and you can wear earrings again afterward. However, since the area that used to be pierced is weaker, Day recommends piercing your ears in a slightly different spot. (Learn how bone broth can help you lose weight with Women’s Health’s Bone Broth Diet.)

Here’s the best way to clean your ears:

If you go through an earlobe repair, just know this: You don’t have to swear off heavy earrings post-op, but you’ll want to be smart about wearing them. Day recommends thinking of heavy earrings the way you might swap out flats and heels: Carry your earrings in your bag when you’re in transit somewhere, and pop them in when you want the effect, like at a dinner out. Then, take them back out when you leave. “Don’t wear them longer than you have to,” Day says.

Day says that earlobe repairs are a “personal decision,” but adds that people typically love the results. “It looks so pretty afterward,” she says.