When you start looking in the mirror every morning and you think “I look old”, what do you have in you that makes you say that dreaded phrase? Is your skin still in good shape? How about your neck? Can you see lines around the eyes or mouth if you stand at a normal distance from the mirror? (Leaning too close is cheating, even young people think I “look old” with every single skin cell under scrutiny!)

But there is one part of the body that we don’t usually think about when it comes to aging. Sure, if you have facial wrinkles, you might consider getting a facelift or injecting yourself with some Botox, or at least investing in a heavy-duty anti-wrinkle cream. But what about your ears? They can often tell a lot more about your age than other parts of your body and are often neglected when it comes to anti-aging treatments. The earlobes age like the rest of the skin; they begin to sink and tilt over the years.

While the earlobes would sag on their own over time, there are a few things you can do to dramatically reduce the droop. One is to avoid wearing extremely heavy earrings for long periods of time. The earlobes cannot support a lot of weight and heavy earrings pull and stretch the skin, which can cause sagging. If you wear heavy earrings, you can prevent them from falling out or discarding by only wearing them for a short period of time. The rest of the time, choose lighter earrings or studs, which are the easiest for your ears to hold without damaging the earlobes. You should always remove your earrings before bed, no matter how big or small, to prevent them from falling off while you sleep.

Plus, you want to treat your ears the same way you would treat any other part of your body – by applying sunscreen to your ears when you go outside, and applying anti-wrinkle cream daily.

If you have noticed that your earlobes are already drooping, there are a few things you can do to adjust them and make them hold your earrings better in the future. There are manual adhesives and products that you can use to help keep the earrings in their normal position, but when it comes to earlobe repair, you may need to undergo a minor cosmetic procedure. You can have fillers injected into your earlobe to fill in a flabby lobe and make it look fuller. This is a procedure similar to Botox. If the ear piercing is very tight and stretched due to heavy earrings, you may need to have minor surgery to repair the piercing.

Cosmetic ear surgeries have become more common, especially among patients who have undergone a facelift, as this can affect ear placement if not performed correctly. It is often a minor procedure that can be done quickly and easily.