So THAT'S Why Your Ears And Nose Look Bigger As You Age

You may have noticed it happening to your parents or grandparents — that slow spreading out of their nose as they get older. And then one day you look in the mirror and… have your earlobes always looked like that? Or maybe you snap a selfie with your friend and look back on it later, wondering if your nose has always been so… pronounced.

While we’re always our own worst critics, it’s true that your nose and ears can seem to grow or spread out over time. So, what gives?

Why do your ears and nose look bigger as you age?

For starters, your nose and ears are not actually growing, according to Dr. Jacob Rinkinen, a board-certified plastic surgeon at Baptist Health Jacksonville. The appearance of our nose changes because, as we age, our collagen production decreases.

“ Over time, gravity takes its course, and also the collagen production goes down, which causes the elasticity of the skin to go down,” he said. “The tip of the nose droops more, making the illusion that it’s getting longer, and you can start to see more bony prominences because you’re starting to lose some of that soft tissue or fat around your bone and cartilage.”

So, yes, your nose can get a little bit longer when the tip sags, and your dorsal hump (a bony bump some people have on the bridge of their nose) can become more pronounced.

“With your nose, you have a bony structure, a cartilage structure, a muscle structure and a skin structure. As you age, your bone starts to resorb, so you lose some of that bony structure, and things start to move in the direction of gravity as a result,” said Dr. Muneeb Shah, a dermatologist at Hudson Dermatology and Laser Surgery in New York City who’s also known as the popular TikTok user “DermDoctor.” “So your nose can