Comments on: Old people = large ears/noses?

Question: Old people = large ears/noses?

jckll — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 09:25:39 -0800

Are old people's (particularly men's) ears and noses as large as they seem? Or is it some sort of age-based illusion? And if my eyes do not deceive me, why are they that way?

I seem to notice that lots and lots of old people--particularly men, as mentioned above--have quite large ears and noses. It seems that many other people have noticed this as well. Is this actually the case, and if so, is it as common as it seems, and what causes it? Are we talking just an increase in droopiness (i.e. old flesh gets saggy with time) or are these two organs really just growing at a rate that outpaces everything else?

This is on my list of life's most important and curious questions. Please enlighten me! With proof if possible!

By: ulotrichous

ulotrichous — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 09:34:45 -0800

Here is a relatively thorough but somewhat inconclusive answer. It says that ears really do get bigger as we age, but the reason why is harder to determine. However, you are clearly not the only one who wonders about this.

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 09:34:57 -0800

I've heard ears and noses never stop growing.

By: ImJustRick

ImJustRick — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 09:35:03 -0800

I've always heard that the ears and nose keep growing throughout a man's life...

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 09:35:57 -0800

Also, Why do old men have big ears?

By: chrisroberts

chrisroberts — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 09:39:36 -0800

As people age, their ears get larger. Ear circumference increases an average of 0.51 millimeters per year.

By: thirteenkiller

thirteenkiller — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 09:41:29 -0800

Does that happen to any other body parts?

By: roofus

roofus — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 09:46:09 -0800

Men are much more likely to develop rhinophyma, which was the cause of WC Fields bulbous nose. That might account for part of your observation.
Not wishing to hijack the thread, but is there a word for big nose fetish?

By: croutonsupafreak

croutonsupafreak — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 10:03:59 -0800

I always thought it had to do with aging cartilidge -- which is what makes up most of your nose and ears. It kind of relaxes, expands, droops.

By: junkbox

junkbox — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 10:07:29 -0800

As you age your skin becomes less plump and more prone to sagginess, while your nose and ears are full of cartilege that helps them maintain structural integrity. So while the rest of your face (particularly your cheeks) sags and sinks in, your nose and ears appear larger by comparison than they did when your face was fuller. Watch some of those "extreme makeovers" and you'll notice the same thing: after extreme weight loss people's nose and ears often look huge. My post would appear to directly contradict croutonsupafreak. Hmmm...

By: adamrice

adamrice — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 10:12:56 -0800

The lenses of your eyes also continue to grow, which is what causes age-related presbyopia.

By: convex

convex — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 10:14:25 -0800

Gravity probably plays a role as well.

By: radioamy

radioamy — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 12:22:18 -0800

Also you start to lose collagen and fat in your face which makes the extremities (ears and nose) look bigger.

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 13:48:17 -0800

The good news: you can cover your nose with your bottom lip.

By: jamjam

jamjam — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 13:56:02 -0800

Unless lots of the old men I see started out with heads bigger than Arvidas Sabonis's, I think your observation must reflect a real phenomenon.

Folk wisdom also has it that big noses come from alcoholism (remember how the boy protagonist in Robert Duvall's Angelo My Love shouted "alcoholic bignose!" at some adversary?).

I would guess that somatomedins, which are peptide growth hormones produced mainly by the liver, may be responsible. Somatomedins do promote the growth of cartilage, and it's fairly easy to imagine a scenario in which repeated cycles of damage and regeneration of the liver typical of chronic alcoholism cause periodic overabundances of somatomedins which in turn, over the years, cause the nose to get bigger and bigger. In the case of the elderly, you may be seeing merely the accumulated effects of a lifetime of exposure to these hormones.

By: beagle

beagle — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 14:07:09 -0800

why are they that way?
At risk of deletion, I can't resist: The better to eat you with, my dear!

By: rob511

rob511 — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 15:52:23 -0800

And wondering what's up with the down inside these ever-growing organs? Dr. Koop has the answer:
[In later years, b]ody and facial hair are also lost, but the hairs that remain may become coarser. Some women may notice ... that they have coarse facial hair, especially on the chin and around the lips. Men may find the hair of their eyebrows, ears, and nose becoming longer and coarser.

By: croutonsupafreak

croutonsupafreak — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 15:55:38 -0800

Alcohol can't be to blame for all of it. My grandpa -- who's probably had all of 10 glasses of wine in his life -- has some of the biggest ears I've ever seen. And his nose appears to have doubled in size from age 60 to age 85.

By: ab3

ab3 — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 02:04:57 -0800

i've always heard that cartiledge (nose, ears, etc) keeps growing throughout your life, while bone stops growing; the rate is simply so slow that it doesn't become apparent until late in life.