My Earlobes Give Away My Age: Can You Help?

When it comes to rejuvenating your looks, most people focus on facial features, like their eyes, mouth, or even their jowls. More recently, though, the ears have been getting a lot of attention — or more specifically, the earlobes.

For people with pierced ears, years of wearing earrings stretches the lobes, giving away your age and making your ears look worn out. Even if your ears aren’t pierced, aging has the same effect on your lobes as on the rest of your face, causing a loss of volume that can leave your lobes looking wrinkled and old.

At Vida Bela Plastic Surgery, Chelsea Snider, MD, specializes in treatments that help rejuvenate earlobes so they look plump and youthful. The type of treatment depends on what’s aging your earlobes, but whatever treatment you have, you can combine your earlobe rejuvenation with other treatments to refresh your entire face or just the areas that are bothering you.

How earlobes age

Like the rest of your skin, the skin of your earlobes depends on a strong collagen network to maintain its natural, firm shape and feel. As we age, we produce less collagen, and that means our earlobes are more likely to sag and stretch. Those effects are enhanced when the ear is pierced, and years of heavy earring use pull the skin down farther.

In addition to volume loss, earlobes lose some of their elasticity. That means piercings can stretch even farther, and your ears can start to look withered and worn. Loss of volume leaves the cartilage parts looking larger, which is one reason why it seems like ears get bigger with age.

Like other types of skin aging, earlobe aging doesn’t discriminate among genders — plenty of men find their ears look older and droopier as they get older, too. In fact, because men’s ears are larger and contain more cartilage to begin with, the signs of aging may be even more pronounced compared to women.

Aging earlobes: Treatment options

There are a couple of treatment options for aging earlobes, including both fillers and surgery.

Earlobe fillers

Just as dermal fillers restore lost volume in your cheeks, lips, and other areas, they can be very effective in restoring volume in your earlobes. Adding volume can also be useful if your piercings have stretched a bit, enhancing the cushioning effect around your piercings so your earrings fit better. 

Since earlobes only require a small amount of filler, it’s an ideal treatment to add on to restorations in other areas of your face. One caveat: While fillers can plump up your ears, they can’t correct a stretched-out earlobe. That’s when surgery can help.

Earlobe surgery

Surgery typically is reserved for people whose lobes are unusually stretched out, usually from years of wearing dangling earrings. Over time, the weight of earrings tugs and pulls on the earlobe tissue, stretching it out and making the lobe look elongated and droopy.

During earlobe reduction surgery, Dr. Snider trims the earlobes to create attractive, symmetrical contours. If the piercing hole is stretched as well, she can remove the small wedge of tissue containing the hole. A new piercing can be performed in about 2-3 months after surgical repair.

Dr. Snider uses surgical techniques that allow her to hide the incisions in most cases, typically along the edge of the lobe or in the natural creases of the ear. Each technique is fully customizable based on your treatment goals, and the procedure can be performed using a local anesthetic with no downtime afterward.

“Ears” to you

All (bad) puns aside, even though earlobes are often overlooked when it comes to facial aging, they can play a surprising role in your overall appearance. Whether you’re investing in full facial rejuvenation or you just want to feel more confident about your ears, Dr. Snider has a treatment that can help.

To learn more about earlobe treatments at our offices in Plano and Frisco, Texas, book an appointment online or over the phone today.