Mystery solved! THIS is what that tiny hole above the ear is all...

If you were big into piercings back in the day, chances are you have a couple of tiny holes in your ears which you no longer adorn with jewellery.

And while most of us assume every small hole in a person's ear is the result of a past piercing, this isn't actually the case - something you'll be all too familiar with if you have a rare condition called preauricular sinus.

Preauricular sinus presents as a tiny hole where the ear cartilage joins the face, and is a harmless condition which affects, on average, one in 100 people.

First documented by scientist Van Heusinger back in 1864, preauricular sinus appears during early foetal development and is hereditary.

If you've never noticed anyone with this feature before, social media is here to clue you in.

So apparently I have a congenital malformation ?! Lol I've always called it my Barbie ear and I didn't even know it had a name ! #Preauricularsinus it's a inherited feature but no one in my immediate family has it !!maybe it's from my daddies side ! Weird none of my kidos have it either#imdeformed #barbieear

A photo posted by Lizbeth & Fernando Villegas (@mr_and_mrs_villegas) on Sep 21, 2015 at 4:02pm PDT

Akhirnya saya tahu apa nama lubang sebesar ujung pensil di antara daun telinga dan wajah yang dimiliki suami saya : Fistula Preaurikular Kongenital . Suami saya memiliki lubang itu pada dua telinganya, sedangkan bayi kami hanya memiliki lubang itu pada telinga sebelah kiri. Saya pikir ini mungkin penyakit menurun. . Semoga penyakit ini tidak membawa dampak apa-apa pada bayi kami. Karena suami saya sampai saat ini tidak mengeluh apa-apa karena lubang tersebut. Hanya mengeluh kalau ada sekret/cairan yang bau bila dipencet. . Ada beberapa kasus yang dioperasi. Tapi kalau tidak terjadi apa-apa, tak apalah dibiarkan saja. . Saya menganggap itu suatu ciptaan Alloh SWT yang luar biasa. Sudah bersyukur sekali bayi kami memiliki telinga yang lengkap dan berfungsi normal dan baik. #preauricularsinus #babycenter #allaboutbaby #FistulaPreaurikularKongenital

A photo posted by m r s . B A N D E L L A (@lelylunalie) on Jul 24, 2015 at 8:56pm PDT