# Why Do Our Ears and Noses Continue to Grow? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-our-ears-and-noses-continue-to-grow/560688 "2010-11-14T23:17:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![taffygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@taffygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taffygirl)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-our-ears-and-noses-continue-to-grow/560688/1 "2010-11-14T23:17:44Z")
I’ve always heard that our ears and noses continue to grow long after our bodies have matured past adolescence. From what I’ve seen, that certainly seems to be the case. But why would this be? Why would these two (well, three) appendages keep growing when our pituitary glands/endocrine system have already said “Knock it off” to all the other body parts? (I know the brain keeps developing until age 25, but that’s different.) Does it have something to do with the ears and the nose being cartilaginous? )Is there any evolutionary advantage? I know some guys who probably wouldn’t mind if one other appendage continued to grow.😉 Maybe that WOULD have some sort of evolutionary advantage. Finally, is this universal, or are there people who keep the same dainty nose and ears they had at, say, 18? ---
**Author:** ![Renton\_lvr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7feea3/32.png) [@Renton\_lvr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renton_lvr)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-our-ears-and-noses-continue-to-grow/560688/2 "2010-11-14T23:40:31Z")
Rather than asking why, I would first try to find out if there is any truth to this commonly heard interesting “fact”. (I don’t think there is) ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-our-ears-and-noses-continue-to-grow/560688/3 "2010-11-14T23:50:34Z")
> [@taffygirl](#): > > I’ve always heard that our ears and noses continue to grow long after our bodies have matured past adolescence. From what I’ve seen, that certainly seems to be the case. What have you seen? ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-our-ears-and-noses-continue-to-grow/560688/4 "2010-11-15T00:11:42Z")
After puberty, because of the effect of testosterone and estrogen to close the so-called [cartilage growth plate](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_plate), the long bones in your body stop growing, i.e. cartilage grows from the growth plate (located near the end of the long bones) outward (and subsequently turns into bone). That’s why you don’t get any taller once you’re finished puberty. Again, it is the cartilage that grows and then transforms into bone (ossification). The initial cartilage growth occurs as an (indirect) effect of [growth hormone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_hormone). OTOH, cartilage in other areas and bones, where there is/was no growth plate _can_ continue to grow after puberty. Good examples of this are the base of the nose and the lower jaw (i.e. the part of the lower jaw that attaches to your skull). But, even though the cartilage in those areas _can_ grow, it doesn’t tend to happen because levels of growth hormone get lower as you age. If, though, you have excessive levels of growth hormone as happens in the condition called [acromegaly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acromegaly), then areas such as the nose, jaw, etc., _do_ grow and enlarge. [A classic case of acromegaly](http://www.cs.umass.edu/~elm/images/acromegaly_classic_woman.gif). Note the growth of her nose, jaw, and ears, and the general thickening or coarsening of her facial features.[Here are some Google image results for acromegaly](http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1920&bih=996&q=acromegaly&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=). Note how basically everyone with the disease looks like they’re related to one another, especially because their noses all look the same. Bottom line, there is a _potential_ for growth in those areas but it’s not manifest unless there’s enough growth hormone around. I should also point out that much of the enlargement seen in people with acromegaly is actually due to swelling of the “soft” tissues and has nothing to do with growth, cartilaginous or otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-our-ears-and-noses-continue-to-grow/560688/5 "2010-11-15T00:44:08Z")
The brain thing isn’t true. You brain changes all the time, this is what makes learning possible. The majority of new brain cells are created early on in life, so it is true that the rate slows down dramatically in adulthood. But although it was once that that no new neurons grow (the connections always change), we now know that at least in some areas this is not true. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-our-ears-and-noses-continue-to-grow/560688/6 "2010-11-15T01:02:16Z")
It might just be a case of certain areas taking longer to wind down than others, as opposed to having an actual purpose. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-our-ears-and-noses-continue-to-grow/560688/7 "2010-11-15T03:43:54Z")
What kind of “reason” are you looking for? And why would it be relevant to evolution, if it comes later in life? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-our-ears-and-noses-continue-to-grow/560688/8 "2010-11-15T12:36:36Z")
My WAG is that the “floppier” skin of the aging human makes noses and ears slightly larger in fact and even larger in perception. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-our-ears-and-noses-continue-to-grow/560688/9 "2010-11-15T12:42:24Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > What have you seen? Charlie Sheen cites continual ear growth as a reason he has to keep going after younger females in Two and a Half Men so that he can keep the ear size in check. He has a lot of experience so there is my sitcom cite which is good enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-our-ears-and-noses-continue-to-grow/560688/10 "2010-11-15T15:31:20Z")
Drooping: Often confused with growing. ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-our-ears-and-noses-continue-to-grow/560688/11 "2010-11-15T17:01:50Z")
I have seen older men with seemingly large ears, but perhaps they have always been big. I am 81 years old and my ears seem to be like always. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-our-ears-and-noses-continue-to-grow/560688/12 "2010-11-15T19:38:45Z")
I’m not convinced that noses and ears grow as we age. As people age, their hair tends to thin, which would make ears more obvious. And the skin on the face tends to thin and lose subcutaneous fat, which would tend to make the nose more obvious.