Seattle Plastic Surgeon Discusses Dog Ears.
I saw a patient in this week to have her stitches removed. I had removed a mole from her chin. She noted a little bit of bunching up of the skin on either side of her incision line and wondered if I had left a bit the the mole. What she was observing were dog ears. I have zero idea where the name came from but surgeons use the term all the time. Dog ears occur when a circular or elliptical incision is made to remove a lesion and a linear closure is done to close the wound. This causes the skin to bunch up a little at the ends. For those readers who sew, they will recognize this as being a lot like a dart in a shirt or dress. Happily most small dog ears flatten out on their own over time, as this patient’s certainly will. Larger dog ears that are sometimes seen after tummy tucks or breast reductions may not flatten out enough and need to be excised. This can almost always be done in the office with just a local anesthetic. The excision of the dog ear makes the incision and resultant scar a little longer but it is usually worth it for the smoother contour. Woof, woof.
Thanks for reading! Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder
@lisalynnsowder
