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Ears, they're so hot right now—and not just because the statement earring dominated the spring runway. Last night on a new episode of E!'s Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kris Jenner revealed her biggest insecurity is in fact her lobes, commenting on their large size and limply appearance. While the the mother-of-six resorted to a surgical procedure to significantly reduce the circumference of the droopy area, in which a chunk of tissue is physically removed, there are alternate solutions that exist to prep ears for their best year yet. After all, with the recent resurgence of casual updos and oversized earrings, 2018 may very well be the year of the ear.
“We’ve mastered the face, neck, and chest,” says New York City dermatologist Francesca Fusco, M.D., “so it’s only natural that the ear area would be next.” The ears, like the tops of hands, can reveal signs of age, she explains, due to elongated holes, brown spots, and sagging. “Any treatment I do to the face, I repeat on the ears,” she adds, mentioning that the surface’s tough skin can handle anything from Fraxel lasers, to retinol, to peels. And the same goes for your sunscreen and hyaluronic acid serum; Fusco recommends extending your application, morning and evening, onto the entire ear.
Still, if you’ve spent years in heavy chandeliers, seriously stretched-out lobes are likely beyond the capabilities of your anti-aging cream. Fortunately, there’s a quick, in-office fix that can help combat the drooping just as it can elsewhere on your face: fillers.
Yes, that’s right, injecting your ears with Restylane or other hyaluronic acid fillers is a thing—and it’s becoming increasingly popular across the country as a quick way to plump up the area and lift slack lobes: “You only need a drop or two strategically injected around the pierced hole,” she says. The injections prevent delicate lobes from ripping and provide extra cushioning for heavy jewelry. A five-minute, virtually painless procedure that will make a new pair of gorgeous-but-hefty Marni earrings sit up straight and provide ears with the stamina to wear them all night long? This Vogue writer had to have it.
As I sat in the chair, nervously trying to avoid the sight of the needle, I meekly asked if the area needed to be numbed. “You won’t even know it’s happening,” Fusco declared as she swiftly injected the area. And she was right: It was over before I knew it, and as I put my studs back in, the results were immediate. The diamonds stood up just right, and the area felt firmer and thicker. My ears simply looked happier.
Of course, happiness has a price: The procedure averages around $500, and requires touch-ups once or twice a year. And in the most extreme cases, it might not be enough: Severely damaged holes may need to be stitched and re-pierced or trimmed, like Jenner's. Still, for the earring-obsessed, it’s a quick, almost effortless solution to a particularly irritating problem. With gala season on the horizon and statement danglers holding strong, the question remains: Are your ears ready?