I have several cartilage ear piercings and on each ear I have a growth coming out of my ear where it was pierced. Can you please tell me what this is called and what can be done to get them removed? One of them is fairly large -- almost the diameter of a dime -- and sticks out of my ear about a quarter of an inch. It sticks out on the front and back of my ear. Please help -- I can't stand the sight of it when I wear my hair up.

M.

I can think of a few possible diagnoses. The most likely diagnosis is keloid, a big LUMP that can arise from any skin injury. Keloids that arise from piercings tend to be round or oval and can grow to a very large size. They can be pedunculated (meaning, they are attached to the ear via a narrow stalk) or, more commonly, broad-based. Keloids are essentially abnormal scar tissue -- the body's exaggerated response to a trivial injury.

If the keloid is small enough, it can be treated with corticosteroid injection. Larger keloids must be surgically removed, and the fresh wound should be injected with corticosteroids to discourage reformation of the keloid. Periodic steroid injection into the wound may be necessary during the healing period.

A somewhat less likely diagnosis is hypertrophic scarring. Hypertrophic scars look like large, raised welts. Unlike keloids, hypertrophic scars do not resemble tumors. Treatment is similar to the treatment for keloids.

Much less likely: These lumps could represent true tumors arising from the cartilage. Benign (noncancerous) tumors of cartilage are known as chondromas. If this is the problem, your surgeon may actually have to remove some ear cartilage to completely rid you of the problem.

A variety of inflammatory conditions may occur with cartilaginous ear piercings, but since you do not mention pain, I think we can safely ignore such conditions.

The appropriate specialist for this problem is an ear, nose and throat surgeon (ENT). Assuming that these lumps are keloids, there's an excellent chance that your ENT will be able to remove these in the office under local anesthesia.

One final word of warning. People who pierce their ears in many places tend to pierce other body parts, too. People who form keloids in one place tend to form keloids in other places, too. Think about this before you have another piercing.