Why your ears are a useful health tool

I AM a big fan of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books, and l loved the films, too. So I eagerly awaited the new prequel TV series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which was released recently on Amazon Prime Video.

I’ve only seen one episode and, while it looks good, I am struggling to keep up with all the new characters, not helped by my wife Clare asking me every few minutes: ‘Who’s that?’ As I told her, the most reliable way to tell who’s an elf is by looking at their ears, which are, of course, pointy.

In fact, your ears are quite a useful health tool, too. For instance, if you have a diagonal crease in your earlobe it suggests you might be at increased risk of heart disease, possibly related to problems with your arteries.

Meanwhile, a skin tag on the ear of a newborn can suggest kidney problems (but no one knows why). Big, flappy ears, on the other hand, are probably just a sign that you are getting older. Contrary to popular myth, ears don’t get bigger as you age but the cartilage, which they’re made of, begins to sag, and that can make them look more prominent (sadly it’s the same with your nose).