If former President Donald Trump wants his profile to look the same again, he’ll need to pay up to $10,000.
An assassination attempt over the weekend on the Republican presidential nominee left him with a chunk of his right ear missing, having been shot off at a Pennsylvania rally.
Now, a plastic surgeon has revealed that Trump would have to undergo surgery to repair his shattered ear, which was covered with bandages when he made an appearance Monday at the Republican National Convention.
Trump revealed the shooting caused him to lose part of the top third of his ear, as the bullet ‘pierced’ it and ‘ripped through’ his skin.
Dr Dennis Dass, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, California, who has repaired hundreds of injured ears, said depending on the extent of the damage, fixing the injury could be ‘complex.’
The above graphic shows the surgical procedure Trump may receive to repair his damaged ear. He is pictured here at the Republican National Convention
Donald Trump said he lost a chunk from the upper third of his right ear in the attempted assassination in Pennsylvania
Dr Dass told DailyMail.com: ‘An ear reconstruction is typically a complex procedure depending on the size and location of the defect.
‘But the upper third of the ear, that is actually one of the easier areas to reconstruct.’
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Trump’s ear was wrapped in bandages to stop the ‘off and on’ bleeding. These are expected to remain in place for a few days.
Doctors say he may have also received antiseptic to prevent bacteria entering the open wound.
Dr Dass said, unless Trump wants to wear his injury like a badge of honor, the former president would likely need to undergo a reconstructive surgery called a helical advancement flap — which can cost up to $10,000 and take anywhere from one to two hours to complete.
In this procedure, if the missing part of the ear cannot be reattached, surgeons first remove any damaged area of the ear and scar tissue.
In order to close this wound, they will then make an incision along the inside rim of the ear to loosen the skin.
This allows them to ‘rotate’ neighboring healthy tissue — cartilage and skin — over the wounded area to restore the ear’s normal shape and improve its appearance.
Stitches are put in to hold the stretched in place for about a week, with a patient’s ear making a full recovery within six weeks.
Trump is pictured above with a bloody ear following the shooting. He has since appeared with his ear wrapped in a bandage
The healing process should not impact campaigning.
Dr Dass said the surgery may leave a ‘small mark,’ but it would be minor compared to the damage initially visible on the ear.
The surgery is normally done under local anesthetic, with patients still awake and the skin around the ear numbed.
The Trump camp has not revealed if the former president plans to undergo any type of procedure on his ear.
Dr Dass, who runs his own clinic, added: ‘I am hoping for his sake that it is a rather small injury and the reconstruction can be pretty simple.
‘It is a very unfortunate situation that he has been in, and it was simply horrifying.
‘I wish President Trump well, and hopefully we can get a beautiful cosmetic result for his ear.’
Dr Dass said if the damage is more extensive, then the former President may need more invasive surgeries.
This could include a wedge closure surgery — where a triangle is cut out of the ear, including the damaged area, before it is sutured together.
He could also have a local skin flap surgery, where the skin around the ear is loosened and then shifted to cover up the damaged area.
It was not thought that the damage to the outside of the ear Trump will affect his hearing, although the bullet whistling past it may have.
Trump has not commented on whether he suffered any hearing loss.
Dr Dass has not dealt with any patients with a bullet injury to the ear before, saying most of the time these patients have also suffered from gunshots to the head.
He has previously carried out ear reconstructions following cancer treatment — after a cancerous area is cut out of the ear — and injuries from a piercing being ripped out.