The research

Park TH, Seo SW, Kim JK, Chang CH. Outcomes of surgical excision with pressure therapy using magnets and identification of risk factors for recurrent keloids. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 2011.

A single hospital in Korea followed 1,436 ear keloids in 883 patients who had surgical excision followed by pressure therapy with magnets. After 18 months, 89.4 percent of patients had no recurrence. Recurrence was more likely in patients with prior treatment elsewhere, slower-growing keloids, and higher body mass index; the study reports outcomes from one center's protocol and its evidence level is rated III.

Park TH, Chang CH. Early postoperative magnet application combined with hydrocolloid dressing for the treatment of earlobe keloids. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 2013.

A nonrandomized study from the same Korean hospital. All 80 patients had their earlobe keloids removed and then wore magnets for about 12 hours a day for six months. The 40 in the study group also had a hydrocolloid dressing with a magnet pressed onto it for the first two days after surgery; the 40 matched comparison patients had conventional gauze dressings. Over 18 months, keloids returned in 2 of 40 (5 percent) with the early magnet and hydrocolloid dressing and 7 of 40 (17.5 percent) with conventional dressings. The comparison group came from earlier records, so this is not a randomized trial, and the study does not compare magnets with no magnets.

Sobec R, Dobreanu C, Fodor L, Şomcutean A, Ţichil I, Cosgarea M. Ear keloids: a review and update of treatment options. Clujul Medical, 2013.

A narrative review of the published options for managing ear keloids, including surgery, steroid injections, laser, cryotherapy, radiotherapy, and pressure therapy. It reports that surgical excision alone is followed by a high recurrence rate of 50 to 100 percent, that pressure is used as an add-on after excision, and that keloids are more frequent in darkly pigmented people. As a narrative review it summarizes other studies rather than presenting new data.

Khan FA, Drucker NA, Larson SD, Taylor JA, Islam S. Pediatric earlobe keloids: Outcomes and patterns of recurrence. Journal of Pediatric Surgery, 2020.

A case series of 94 children and teens (135 keloids) who had surgery for earlobe keloids at one US center over ten years; ear piercing was the most common cause. Keloids returned in 28.7 percent of patients over a median follow-up of two years. Among keloids that returned, the median time to recurrence was 23 months. In this series, add-on steps such as steroid injection, compression, and radiation did not appear to change recurrence, and the authors call for longer-term studies.

Delaleu J, Charvet E, Petit A. Keloid disease: Review with clinical atlas. Part I: Definitions, history, epidemiology, clinics and diagnosis. Annales de Dermatologie et de Vénéréologie, 2023.

A dermatology review covering the definition, epidemiology, and diagnosis of keloids. It describes keloids as usually triggered by skin injury or inflammation and states that keloid disease runs in families and preferentially affects people of non-European ancestry, especially those of sub-Saharan African descent. It is a review rather than a new study.

Tahir SM, Ihebom D, Simman R. Compression Therapy for Keloid Scars: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open, 2024.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of 27 published studies of compression after keloid removal, grouped as compression earrings (20 studies), silicone gel sheeting (4 studies), or both (3 studies). Pooled recurrence was about 11 percent with compression earrings, 13 percent with silicone gel sheeting, and 9 percent with both, but the differences between the three were not statistically significant. All 27 were nonrandomized observational studies. The largest, the 2011 Korean magnet study, supplied most of the compression-earring keloids. The authors say there were too few studies in each group to tell which approach works best.

Sasidharan A, David A, Gohil A, Gupta AK. Simple device to determine the pressure applied by pressure clips for the treatment of earlobe keloids. Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery, 2015.

A plastic surgery team in India built a simple sensor to measure how much pressure different ear keloid clips apply. The pressure varied from clip to clip; spring clips could be adjusted, while binder clips and magnet discs could not. The authors note that uncontrolled pressure carries a risk of pressure injury to the skin. It is a device report that measures clips, not a study of patient outcomes.

Jun D, Shin D, Choi H, Lee M. Clinical efficacy of intermittent magnetic pressure therapy for ear keloid treatment after excision. Archives of Craniofacial Surgery, 2019.

A retrospective case series from one university hospital in Seoul, Korea, reviewed 22 ear keloids in 20 patients who had surgical removal followed by magnetic pressure. Pressure began two weeks after surgery and was applied in cycles of three hours on and two hours off, nine hours a day, for six months. The authors reported a successful result in 20 of the 22 keloids (90.9 percent) six months after therapy, with slight under-correction in the other two. The series is small and had no comparison group.

Tirgan MH. KRF Clinical Practice Guidelines in Keloid Disorder (KRF Guidelines): Magnetic Disks, Version 1.2019. Keloid Research Foundation, 2019.

A consensus guideline from the Keloid Research Foundation, not a clinical trial. It describes thin neodymium magnetic disks worn on both sides of the ear as an add-on after an ear keloid has been removed and the skin has fully closed, with the aim of lowering the risk of recurrence. It advises wearing the disks for several hours a day with regular breaks and not during sleep, and states that the best number of hours has yet to be fully studied. It warns that too much pressure can cause pressure sores or tissue damage and that skin irritation can occur.

Jangra RS, Gupta S, Gupta S, Singla R. Use of neodymium magnetic discs as pressure earrings for earlobe keloid postexcision. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2019.

A short two-page report from dermatologists in India describing neodymium magnetic discs used as pressure earrings on the earlobe after a keloid has been surgically removed. It has no published abstract.

Tanaydin V, Beugels J, Piatkowski A, Colla C, van den Kerckhove E, Hugenholtz GC, van der Hulst RR. Efficacy of custom-made pressure clips for ear keloid treatment after surgical excision. Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery, 2016.

A study from one medical centre in the Netherlands followed 88 patients who wore a custom-molded, adjustable pressure clip for 12 hours a day for 6 to 18 months after ear keloid surgery. With a mean follow-up of 6.5 years, the authors reported that the keloid had not returned in 70.5 percent of patients and that no severe side effects were observed. Skin type differed between patients whose keloid returned and those whose did not. The authors call for further studies.

Vinagolu-Baur J, Kupovics G, Peddireddy N, Acosta S, Edupuganti N, Hussaini A, Welp H, O'Malley A, Frasier K. Innovative, affordable and easily obtainable ear pressure devices for keloid management. International Journal of Research in Dermatology, 2025.

A narrative review, not a new clinical study, of published work on ear pressure devices such as clips and magnets. The authors report that the studies they reviewed describe flattening of keloids and less itching and discomfort, particularly when the devices are used soon after surgical removal. They state that the existing research is limited by small samples and short follow-up, that larger randomized controlled trials are needed, and that keeping to the wearing schedule is a major challenge.