Perk up droopy earlobes and banish your witch’s chin

Suddenly the anti-ageing industry has a cure for EVERY part of your body

YOUTH-RESTORING treatments used to be all about the face and hands, but that’s set to change. Now, you can improve body parts previously ignored by the anti-ageing industry. Drooping forearms? Ageing earlobes? As ALICE SMELLIE reveals, help has arrived . . .

SAGGY FOREARMS

PROBLEM: From our early 20s, collagen levels diminish throughout the body and we lose skin elasticity. Forearms are aged further as they are often exposed to sun (be honest, how often do you apply sun cream to your shoulders and neglect your forearms?). UV rays cause skin sagging and age or sun spots.

TREATMENT: ‘Every treatment you can do on the face, you can do on forearms,’ says consultant plastic surgeon Marc Pacifico of Purity Bridge Clinic, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. ‘Results may take more time to manifest as the blood supply isn’t as good as to the face.’

He advises sun spots are always checked by a medical expert, in case of malignancy.

If there are no medical issues, ‘sun spots can be cosmetically treated using what’s known as a Q-switched laser, which targets short bursts of light energy at pigmentation, shattering it within the skin, which then crusts over, with the pigmentation coming away with the crust’. (£495, puritybridge.co.uk)

Well Armed is a new forearm peel from Harley Street’s Dr David Jack, containing the antioxidant glutathione. This removes the top layer of dead skin and stimulates collagen and elastin production for brighter, tighter skin (£350, drdavidjack.com).

‘Look out for products with vitamins C and E,’ says Dr Amanda Wong-Powell, clinical director of Courthouse Clinics. ‘ These antioxidants will repair and protect the creping skin, while hyaluronic acid instantly gives a plumping effect.’ PRIORI Advanced AHA Hand and Body Lotion (£23.50, effortlessskin.com) contains both protective antioxidants and lactic acid to gently exfoliate away dry and dead skin and, at the same time, hydrate, so that arms regain their youthful smoothness.

DROOPY EARLOBES

PROBLEM: Drooping earlobes are as clear a sign of ageing as crow’s feet and they can develop as early as your 30s.

‘There are two main problems with earlobes,’ says consultant plastic surgeon Marc Pacifico. ‘Those who wear heavy earrings may find the lobes have stretched and sagged from the weight or, worse, that the hole opens up completely and they have a slit running down their ear.’

The second potential problem is natural ageing. ‘Debate rages as to whether the earlobe keeps growing throughout your life — and there’s no conclusion. The face shrinks as we age, so it may be that earlobes just seem larger.’

TREATMENT: Splits in the ear can be sewn up, though it’s recommended that ears aren’t re-pierced near the scar, or that you wait at least six months before doing so.

‘We often treat wrinkly earlobes as part of a face lift,’ says Marc. ‘An earlobe reduction can also be done as an individual procedure under local anaesthetic. We make an incision where the ear meets the cheek, remove a bit of excess skin and tighten the area.’ (£750, purity

bridge.co.uk)

‘Where the skin is very thin, such as the earlobe, I have had a very good result with a low-dose laser, going over and over the area and heating it to about 40 degrees. This boosts collagen production,’ says laser specialist Jo Martin of SK:N Mapperley Park ( from £ 150,

sknclinics.co.uk).

WITCH’S CHIN

PROBLEM: As we age, ‘an excess of soft tissue can develop on the chin’, says Marc Pacifico. ‘ This is unkindly referred to as a “witch’s chin”. It literally pushes the chin downwards.

‘The mentalis muscle — at the tip of the chin — can become overdeveloped through constant facial movements, and this may make the entire area look puckered with small dimples, called popply chin.’

TREATMENT: Popply chin can be easily treated with a jab of Botox to relax the muscle, says Marc. ‘If that doesn’t work, then try a tiny amount of filler.’

Witch’s chin can also be treated surgically with an incision just below the lower lip (in the chin crease). The chin is then pulled upwards. This procedure would cost around £2,500.

To treat any rough skin, use a daily topical antioxidant containing vitamin C. The best ones are pricey, but effective — try Epionce Intense Defense Serum (£120, beauty-product- online.co.

uk) or Skinceuticals CE Ferulic (£129, my-dermacenter.com).

For good, less expensive options, try Paula’s Choice Resist Super Antioxidant Serum (£30, paulas

choice.co.uk) or Medik8 C-Tetra

(£28, effortlessskin.com).

AGEING TOES

PROBLEM: Over the course of a lifetime, your feet take a beating, yet the most we’re likely to treat them to is the odd pedicure.

Of course, feet age just like the rest of the body, and toes lose their youthful plumpness, especially if you’ve spent a lot of time in the sun without good protection.

TREATMENT: ‘I’ve been asked to put fillers in toes,’ says Dr Wong-Powell. ‘I deliver it via a cannula [a small tube for insertion into the body] and results are amazingly smooth.’

Marc Pacifico adds that an alternative is to graft fat onto toes from other body sites, but that this carries additional risk.

‘In the same way that we graft fat from the buttocks or stomach onto hands, we could do so on toes, but it’s not something I’d attempt lightly,’ he says.

‘The blood supply to the skin in toes isn’t as good as that to the face. And poor blood supply means increased risks of poor wound healing — that, combined with the toes being subjected to gravity and, therefore, swelling, means that injections and surgery to the toes are inherently more risky than the equivalent to the fingers or face.’

Instead, try topical treatments such as the Acid Pedicure at Neville Hair and Beauty in London’s Belgravia. The toes are soaked in fruit acid which peels off dead skin, leaving fresh and youthful feet (£100, nevillehairandbeauty.net).

A fantastic at-home solution is Footner Exfoliating Socks (£19.99, Boots), which are impregnated with AHAs — the same fruit acids used in skin peels for the face.

Simply cut the plastic socks along the dotted line and slip your feet in. Wait an hour, then remove and wash your feet.

After around five days, excess skin will start to peel away, gradually revealing beautifully soft pink toes.

BALDING BROWS

PROBLEM: A clear sign of ageing from the late 30s onwards is a heavy and drooping brow line — as well as bald eyebrows.

‘All body hair goes through changes as part of the ageing process,’ says leading hair transplant surgeon Dr Bessam Farjo ( farjo.net).

‘Last year, we compared hairs from those in their 30s with those in their 60s. Older hairs have a smaller diameter under the microscope, which means that eyebrows may look thinner and more sparse.’ Persistent plucking can cause bald patches, too.

TREATMENT: ‘A small amount of Botox, carefully applied, can lift the outer brow edge and lessen that heavy look,’ says Marc Pacifico. ‘Alternatively, a small incision made in the outer brow can hitch it up, though this will cost around £1,000 and only last a few years.’

As for balding brows, Dr Farjo adds: ‘ You can have eyebrow transplants, but these are most effective if you have no hair at all in the area.’

For thinned hair, he recommends such topical treatments as minoxidil (sold as Regaine, from £25.95, Boots), which can make hair thicker.

Alternatively, for a quick fix, there are tinted products that come with a sponge applicator and can be smudged on to the area. Try DermMatch (£31.99, dermmatch.co.uk).

And new eyebrow products such as WunderBrow (£19.95, Boots), a waterproof, long-lasting coloured gel, do a great job of seamlessly filling in smaller bald patches.