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Beauty buffs are up to their ears in fillers.
A US-based plastic surgeon has warned against a popular cosmetic procedure as more people face the harsh reality of fillers after years of injecting them everywhere from their butts up to their ears.
Ear filler has become a trendy option, particularly in Asia where the technique originated, for patients who seek to make their faces appear smaller or fix drooping earlobes — but the procedure isn’t without its risks.
Dermatologist Dr. Jenny Liu recently revealed to followers on social media that ear filler has become one of the most popular requests from patients in China and South Korea, according to one of her colleagues in China.
The procedure to get these elf ears typically involves injecting hyaluronic acid, which is often used in dermal fillers, into the ears so that they become plump. Others insert a piece of cartilage behind the ear to prop it forward so that they are visible from a frontal face view.
“Aside from the lifting effect, it actually fans out your ear and that creates a smaller face because in Asia the trend is all about having a smaller face,” Dr. Liu explained in an Instagram video.
Protruding ears are also traditionally considered a symbol of good luck in China.
The look is so desired that many Asian beauty stores even sell “elf ear” tape, used as a temporary method to achieve the look.
The interest in this aesthetic has likely been influenced by major K-pop stars like Haerin, a member of South Korea’s biggest girl group NewJeans, who is known for her elfish features.
However, this procedure is different than the one used to give people pointy ears to look like mythical creatures.
And this isn’t where and why most people in America are requesting the procedure.
“Using filler to reshape the upper ear — specifically around the helical rim — is not commonly performed in the United States,” Beverly Hills-based surgeon Dr. Deepak Dugar told the Daily Mail.
He warned that the procedure could be risky for certain patients and lead to “cauliflower ear,” a condition in which the ear becomes permanently misshapen and swollen after a blood clot or fluid collection develops beneath the skin.
“In my opinion, doing filler in the upper and lateral aspect of the ear is extremely risky and I personally would never recommend this for my patients,” the expert said.
Instead, Dr. Dugar shared that his patients request ear filler for a different look.
He explained, “Ear filler in the USA is usually performed in the lower earlobe, utilized to re-volumize aging ears to prevent a wrinkled or sagging look.”
“Sometimes we also use fillers in the lower earlobe to strengthen the area under an ear piercing to keep it strong and prevent it from weakening with heavy earrings.”
This is exactly what Brielle Biermann claimed her mother, Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kim Zolciak, did. “My mom gets filler in her ears because her diamond earrings are too heavy… #richpeopleproblems,” she tweeted in 2018.
But we’ll have to keep our ears perked to see if people continue to request theirs be after plastic surgeons declared 2025 the “year of great deflation.”
In what has now been dubbed the “De-Kardashian-ification of America” — a reference to the infamous curves flaunted by the A-list family — aesthetics patients are now reversing BBLs, removing implants and dissolving injectables in favor of a slender, more natural build, a stark contrast to the once-trendy caricature of the female form.
