Popular content creator Robyn-Leigh Mentor (@robbs.leigh) has opened up about a procedure she recently had done to correct something that made her self-conscious since childhood, her ears.
About a week ago, Mentor shared a clip of herself in a hospital bed with her head wrapped in a large bandage.
The video was captioned “The theme is lobotomy”, which left her more than 850,000 followers both shocked and confused.
@robss.leigh What’s going on!?🤭
♬ original sound – Amelia🩶👸🏽
While some admitted they didn’t even know what a lobotomy was, others guessed that she might have had a hair transplant.
Now she has come forward to explain the story behind the bandages in a two-part TikTok series.
“This is for people with big ears and big ears only. If you don’t have big ears, you won’t get it,” she begins in her video.
Before talking about the surgery, Mentor shares old photos of herself and explains how she has always been self-conscious about her ears.
@robss.leigh Surgery story time part 1🤭 #otoplasty #southafrica ♬ original sound – robss.leigh
Older folk used to tell her that she would grow into them, but she never did.
As a teenager, she decided to pierce the top of her ears using a piercing gun, which unfortunately caused her to develop cauliflower ears. The cartilage was never quite the same after that.
Mentor also opened up about her journey with other insecurities, saying that one of her goals, once she could afford it, was to address the things that made her feel uncomfortable.
She has previously had a breast augmentation, explaining that she had always been self-conscious about her chest and that one breast was slightly bigger than the other.
When she went for her first consultation about her ears, the surgeon told her that she had “bak ore”, which is Afrikaans for “flap ears”, and that her ears were not symmetrical.
He also explained that the procedure would take longer on one side, with her left ear needing the most work.
Mentor admits that on the day of the surgery, she started second-guessing everything.
“On the day of the surgery, I was overthinking everything. I thought I was going to wake up and have a third ear attached to my other ear. I thought I was going to be part of some influencer programme where they got this ear from a cadaver in India,” she confessed.
In the second part of her story, she shared that having the same surgeon and anaesthetist who performed her previous procedure made her feel a lot more comfortable.
@robss.leigh Part 2 🤭 #otoplasty #storytime ♬ original sound – robss.leigh
She initially thought she would be awake during the operation, but the medical team reassured her that she would be under both general anaesthesia and a local anaesthetic to the ears.
While the surgery itself went smoothly, the pain that followed once the anaesthetic wore off was intense.
“I could not handle the pain,” she admitted. “I was so close to going to the ER.”
In her video, she also used a graphic illustration to explain exactly what happens during the procedure.
“Would I do the surgery again? Absolutely not,” she added, laughing, explaining that the recovery was much harder than she expected.
She even shared a photo showing the stitches behind her ears, giving followers a real look at the recovery process.
Despite the pain and the long healing time, Mentor says she is thrilled with the results.
She feels far more confident now and no longer feels the need to hide her ears.
What is an otoplasty?
The procedure Robyn-Leigh Mentor had done is called otoplasty, a type of cosmetic surgery that reshapes or repositions the ears.
It is often performed to pin back ears that stick out, correct asymmetry, or fix issues caused by injury or previous piercings.
The surgery usually involves making a small incision behind the ear, removing or reshaping cartilage, and then stitching the ear into a new position.
Recovery can take a few weeks, with swelling and discomfort being common at first.
The goal is to create a more balanced, natural look, and for many people, like Mentor, it provides a major boost in confidence.
Lifestyle
