Accessorizing with Ears

My kid has an extra tragus. I didn't know until last weekend when we got her checked out by the free dermatology clinic set up on Santa Monica pier. We had just always thought the bump in front of her ear was caused by some awful meal I ate during a formative day of pregnancy. My husband was bugged by it for the first few days of her life, but soon the strange lump was quietly assimilated into our family. Last weekend the dermatologist at the pier assured us this was no random lump.

It has a name. Accessory Tragus. It's a big name for such a small bump. It's a more believable name for a death metal band than an afterthought of cartilage. The tragus is that hard lump in front of your ear. People pierce them and use them to block out noise. It's not the most exciting body part but we find ourselves giddy over the news that we have a spare.

The doctor said that the appearance of an "accessory tragus" isn't uncommon. The spare tragus can appear anywhere from in front of the ear all the way down the cheek to the mouth. Luckily, Pixie's sits demurely in front of her functional one. Suddenly we can't get enough of her "special ear." Pixie has been running around in circles since Saturday singing nonsense songs about traguses (actually, the official plural is tragi, she needs to brush up on her Latin) and posing to show off the lump.

It's nothing life-changing like an extra eye or a spare bum, but we are proud of Pixie's sweet deformity. Possibly just because it's called an "accessory." You'd think with a name like that you'd be able to buy them at Zale's. I can see it now... "here we have our hand-cut emeralds, and this case contains our platinum pieces, and in this case you'll find ear bits..." An extra tragus can be a beautiful thing.

I took this picture of Pixie's tragus for your viewing pleasure. Please do not feel tempted to look for more pictures of accessory tragi on the internet. Almost all that I found were much more severe than Pixie's. In fact, they were downright disgusting. Who am I kidding. I know you are going to go looking anyways. Here are a few pictures of freak nasty tragi. I love to say I told you so.

How much do you think I could get for this thing on eBay?

Comments

Janell said…
You at least can get an honorary mention on Jae Leno's show for attempting to ebay your daughter's right ear. ;)
Deena said…
I could hardly pay attention to said tragus because of her beautiful profile...perfect little mouth, nose and beautiful blue eyes.

As for a spare bum, I think I misplaced my small cute one. If you hear of any extras anywhere, I would appreciate a heads-up because I would like to make an exchange.
Amy said…
I'm most intruiged by the dermatologist giving free advice on the pier.

Penny's is understated. But I have only two words for those nasty ones...plastic surgery. Seriously.
The Editor said…
Eek. I almost lost my breakfast over some of those tragic tragi...especially when I zoomed in. Maybe it was also checking into the waxy ears themselves, but I feel sick. I just had an epiphany. Do you think the word tragedy and tragus are linked? I know I'm just a Black Lab, but it seems obvious to me...
wynne said…
I'm glad Penny is so proud of her accessory.

(All body parts should come with spares, if you ask me. And we could store them in the trunk! Heaven knows there's enough room back there. Move over Mr. Potato Head--I'm about to pull a spare arm outta me bum!)
Colleen said…
I'm pretty sure my mom has one of those. I always just thought it was a big mole. Interesting...
Sarah said…
Oh, Wynne! You are a funny one! I wish I could pull all my junk out of my trunk too.

Colleen, make sure to tell your mom about how non-moley her lump is. I'm sure she'll be thrilled.

Yeah, the dermatologist on the pier was a funny thing. They were doing "free skin cancer screenings." Like people coming to the pier in their tank tops want to find out that their weird freckle is really melanoma... But the guy there said that he'd found skin cancer on a bunch of people. Rather than just telling them outright that they had cancer, he'd just say, "I STRONGLY urge you to get that spot looked at RIGHT AWAY." Kee-razy.
Samantha said…
That's weird!!! It looks like she has two ear holes.
Elizabeth said…
Ahh, all the more for her to pierce once she becomes a rebellious teen! ;-)
Ryan said…
my earlobe kind of sticks out "Spock like" and I always blamed my mother's womb, hmmm, maybe it has a name after all; you know instead of the affectionate nickname from my oh so sensitive family- "alien ear".
Be proud Penny, be very proud!
Clyde said…
This girl's sweet profile showed in the post can't possible belongs to the same little stinker mentioned in the previous post (Stockholm Syndrome)
Can Penny suffer a double personality disorder? Just wondering. :)
Shiloh said…
Sarah-
I am glad Penny only has an extra Tragus. Check out this poor little cow that was born with two functioning noses!!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18620080/
Sarah said…
Okay, now that's just plain awesome. Suddenly Penny's tragus is looking rather bland. That's one lucky cow! Maybe if I eat more junk food during my next pregnancy my kid can get hooked up with one of those.
Lianne said…
My son had webbed toes... I didn't even notice them until I took him home from the hospital.

He has since had them separated, because they would split and bleed. But he still loves to talk about his "magic toes".
Catherine M. said…
I guess I'm the only adult to admit it.... I have one of those too! I thought it was a mole - my own little "beauty mark". It is just like Penny's. Let's do a poll and see how may of Penny's relatives have her same deformity.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Popular Posts