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Ear tags are small flaps of skin in front of the ear that may be associated with certain defects or conditions. They may require medical attention and can be removed for cosmetic reasons. Surgery is usually simple and can prevent the development of new ear tags.
Ear or preauricular tags are one of many usually small birth defects that might be seen on an infant or slightly older child. The tag is usually a small flap made mostly of skin that is slightly in front of the ear. Some children have only one, and this finding doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Other children may have several ear tags and these could be associated with certain defects of which skin tags are a symptom or with conditions that cause unusual development of skin tags.
Many times an ear tag is singular and will mean very little in the life of an infant or child. However, due to the possibility that the tag could mean something else, including possible risk to hearing, the presence of one should be brought to the attention of a child’s doctor. Because ear tags are skin colored, they may not always be noticed at first.
Children may also have small pits in front of the ears and these may also be light in colour. Changes in the appearance of a pit where it looks red, or suddenly turns from a pit into a lump that may be filled with pus, suggests seeking immediate medical attention for treatment of what may be an infection. The appearance of ear tags usually does not change, although they may grow somewhat over time. Rapid growth tends to be an unusual occurrence and should be mentioned to a doctor.
In many cases, when ear tags are benign, parents still choose to remove them for cosmetic reasons. Because these can grow over time, they can significantly promote a child’s self-esteem or comfort level. Of course, if the child is still in infancy, he is unlikely to notice the presence of an ear tag.
Usually the removal is a procedure that can be done while a child is awake with some local anesthesia. More complicated surgery may be required if the tag contains ear cartilage or if there are several ear tags that need to be excised. In most cases the surgery is quite simple: the tag is cut and the skin is stitched back on. Local or general anesthesia may be at the surgeon’s discretion depending on the degree to which a patient may need to be stabilized or the degree to which surgery may create trauma to the infant or child. Parents can certainly weigh in on this decision too.
With surgery, most of the time this means the end of a child getting new ear tags. However, some people seem genetically predisposed to develop them and may develop more in the future. This isn’t always to be expected, but close observation of a child is needed to look for dimples, tags, cysts, or other growths.
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