Surgery, not only can cause worsening of the ear keloids, it can also result in loss of normal ear tissue. In treating ear/earlobe keloids, surgeons often remove the whole keloid, including parts of the ear or earlobe that is involved with the keloid process. This approach always results in loss of normal ear tissue and deformation of the ear/earlobe. The image below depicts several examples of this complication.

Unfortunately, this major esthetic outcome is often not discussed with the patients prior to surgery, neither is it reported in any surgical literature. Cryosurgery, on the other hand, when performed by experienced physicians, produces far superior esthetic results.