It was a phase, a lot of once young people are now saying to their plastic surgeons. But unlike those other youthful phases where they smoked cigarettes or couldn’t stop playing video games, this phase left a mark. Or a hole, in most cases. Now that practically everyone has a tattoo, disaffected renegade youth took to putting large “plugs” in their earlobes–in many cases creating holes big enough to push a carrot through. It’s also known as ear stretching.
Now a lot of them want their plugs plugged up, according to a story out of Britain–a country always at the forefront of young punk aesthetics. Plastic surgeons report a “surge” in requests for this kind of surgical repair, according to CBS News. The best part of the story? A lot of these former rebels need the cosmetic fix-up so they can join the military. The US Army bans “willfully mutilating the body,” a prohibition that includes ear stretching.
