Be warned: This is a pretty grisly story, and the photos after the jump are not pretty. We’ll let the gentleman pictured above take it away:
“It’s a chilly Saturday morning and snowboarding sounded like precisely what the day needed. Unfortunatly, the closest New Hampshire mountain was a bone chilling -14 degrees with a 30 mph wind chill. But did this stop me? Nahhh. I packed up and a friend and I headed up to good ole NH for some morning/afternoon shredding.
“After approximately five or six hours of being blasted in the face with negative-degree weather, I thought not feeling my ears was a side effect of just being a bit under-dressed for the occasion — no big deal …
“VERY BIG DEAL. Getting home, I noticed my lobes — or whatever skin I had from my 1 1/4″ stretched lobes — was frozen solid. Literally, to the touch, frozen, and to make it better? The bottom skin was black. So I, being the smart person I am, decided to just go sleep and let them defrost. Wrong again. I woke up a few hours later and noticed some bleeding, some liquid discharge, and some ripping. Forcing the plug out was no easy task, by any means; they were basically frozen to my skin. Finally, after getting them both off, I popped a seemingly gross mid-sized bubble of liquidy stuff and the skin just peeled off like a grape … revealing fresh, bare, bleeding skin.
“Noticing a pattern here, I decided to go to the ER and try to get Medicare, because in this situation, of course, I don’t have any insurance. That’d be ridiculous, right? All the nurses were shocked my earlobes were still attached, as if they would’ve just fallen right off my face for some reason. Basically, the worst day ever. I am not allowed to wear any earrings for about three months to see if anything heals itself or if they have to re-construct or just cut the lobe off.
“Don’t go outside and risk life and — literally — limb. Be cautious. That’s my moral for this story.”
Comments
116 responses to “Stretched Lobes and Frostbite: A Cautionary Tale”
Oww, poor guy. :/
Man i am always so paranoid about that.
This is a big problem! I thought I was being over cautious and always covered mine up. Would wearing silcone vs metal vs bone make a difference? And stretched lobes would be more suseptiable to frost bite yes?
I hope they heal! They looks so big fat and beautiful 🙁
I wanna give those poor lobes a hug…they look horribly painful 🙁
what kind of jewelry was he wearing? i know if i wear any kind of tunnel when i ski, they get so cold it HURTS
katy, when i ski, i only wear solid kaos silicone in my 1-1/2″ lobes. solid wood is my 2nd choice.
anything other then that is a death sentence
Horrible!
I thought I was just being paranoid always covering my babies up, guess not. Would wearing silicone vs. metal vs. bone or something else make a difference? And I reckon bigger stretched lobes would be more susceptible to frost bite, yes? Or would it make a difference if they were all thin and whimpy or fatties like this fellows?
So many questions.
They look so big and fat and beautiful and were probably very very healthy :/
Good post.
Sorry didn’t think my other post sent, bad internet.
stretched ear lobes is not a limb
Poor guy.
he should invest in some ear muffs.
I think that we should see a good and informative post about this! With this season upon us, and not everyone prepared, it sounds like a GREAT idea!
i had a verry similar problem like this last early spring. i was wearing my steel tunnels while shoveling snow and they started hurting like crazy. they never got black and this gnarly but steel definitely is a bad idea in the cold it reacts a certain way that tends to fuck ears up
#6 Kaitlin thanks
Love Kaos its the only silicone that doesn’t make my ear freak out and go scabby.
this is my biggest fear.
ever.
ever.
aww. he looks so pouty and cute. that’s a bummer.
if its too cold for a tshirt then i dont wear my plugs, flip my lobes over my ears and wear a hat, no way im gonna risk freezing my lobes lol ive always beenaparnoid about this
Oh, man. This is just so depressing. My sympathy extends to this guy, and hope healing goes well for him.
arrgh! fuck me that looks so soooorreeee.
yeh id recommend NOT metal as it conducts the cold temperature like nothing else and once its cold fuck it burns.
they should make little battery-powered heated plugs.
So what I’m gathering is, solid plugs are best for cold weather, preferably silicone or wood. And cover your ears when you can.
I guess I’ve heard about this problem once or twice, but it never struck me as a major concern. I live in Minnesota and it’s been below zero for weeks, and I’ve had no issues with my lobes. And I usually never wear a hat.
Wow, I get into 28 degree weather in AZ and it makes the inside of my lobes slough off. I didn’t think it was frostbite, but wearing steel plugs while anemic in cold weather is probably it.
i’m TERRIFIED of frost bite. owww. 🙁
all things considered, they really dont look that bad.
if only they coudl make ear lobe mittens
if only they coudl make ear lobe mittens
if only they coudl make ear lobe mittens, and i hate winter and having large earlobes
I didn’t think they looked that bad either, seen worse, kinda thing…
that’s why I rarely wear jewellery in my lobes in the cold weather!
poor thing. and such a cutie, too. hope they heal!
yikes! that’s a scary thing to have happen! they look so unpleasant and painful. poor adorable guy. i hope all goes well!
If you have punched conches you could thread the earlobe-mitten loops through them.
I wear silicone plugs and have done lots of bike riding through -35degC weather plus wind chill. I wear a balaclava, toque, and ski goggles at that point though. Also, I keep them well moisturized with cocoa butter (also helps to provide a little bit of a layer if put on the skin before you go out).
Honestly I think it was stupid of him. Anyone who lives in the cold knows not to wear metal.
I live in the northern US and know not to wear any metal in the winter. And if you want to (for some stupid reason) you wear ear muffs.
i’m with ubbaken i have a few ear piercings(non stretched tho) and a 2ga septum and i wear a balaclava its toasty gets more wierd looks than piercings though
shoulda worn a hat
With all the warnings before the cut, I expected more terrifying pictures than these, modblog is infamous for squicky pictures.
But still, they look painful. D:
That looks painful but not bad. The fact that they are so pink might be a good thing. But the fact they were actually frozen and previously black is not. If they turn black again, say goodbye to them. :/
this really strikes me as just nothing more than neglect.
why not just take your plugs out completely and wear a tuque (or anything) that covers your ears well?
i dont drive, and winters here are cold and windy.
like -40 cold. and i’ve never had a problem.
i’ll let someone else pick up my portion of the sympathy…
last winter my lobes got frostbite and it sucked and i had a hat on,now they are healed and big enough to flip over my ear.when i do wear plugs and its cold i only wear silicone.
So sad 🙁
That sucks.
A bone chilling -14? Its -24 here right now
^ That doesn’t mean it’s not cold.
He should skin graft that bloke’s eyebrow onto them. Hairy lobes. Then they’d be warmer too.
That happened to me but it wasn’t NEARLY as bad. It happened when it was like -30C but felt like -42C that day. And I was only outside for 30 minutes. Luckily for me it was just one ear and it only took a week to heal.
But he’s stupid for thinking that his ears would be fine for 5 hours out in the cold with no protection.
i had one of my ears split after a winter holiday ,never wear metal plugs in winter ,,,does anyone know of a piecer that will reconstruct it in the uk ???
You can use baby socks. Im at 2″ and use them when on a motorcycle, along with my other gear. Newborn socks are great for this.
It looks painful and I feel for the poor bastard. (Putting ear muffs on my shopping list) But it’s not as bad as I’d imagined it. Will be good to see how it heals.
wood and bone are probably the least conductive of cold, followed by silicone, acrylics, glass, then metals, if memory serves right.
either way, this sucks. hope they heal for you!
Ooooo…. Put some Dettol on those bad boys..
Well, getting outdoor in -degree weather with wrong jewelry (I guess he had steel or something) really hurts after a while.
Hope they heal and hope you made your lesson =)
Never thought about that!
Now I will think twice before going against this strong Canadian winter wind I face for half the season!