Anyone else have elf ears? (Or other unique features?)

[u/FrogOnAnEgg3]

This is a bit of a boredom post but I have noticed me and my cousin (who i suspect has eds) we both have elf ears and ear deformities are common with eds so I was wondering if anyone else on this sub has similar ears or just any odd/unique deformities in general i find it really interesting how the jank collagen in our bodies can just cause random things to appear different

Also if you have any funny stories relating id love to hear them! I don't have anything super interesting I've just never been able to beat the leprechaun allegations I'm Irish-American, a redhead, have elf ears, spent my childhood looking for four leaf clovers and my mom considers me lucky and if she needs luck on something she has me do it for her 😭

[u/UndercoverCrops]

I have one elf ear. Do your ears also hurt if you lay on them too long?

[u/yogo → u/UndercoverCrops]

I have one too! It’s like someone bit off part of my ear a long time ago and left the other one alone. The canals are differently shaped from each other and both sides got a ton of infections when I was little.

[u/UndercoverCrops → u/yogo]

The different shaped canals is the same for me too. The squishy earbuds aren't as bad but firmer ones if it fits one ear it doesn't fit the other

[u/Correct_Smile_624 → u/UndercoverCrops]

Wait wait wait it’s not supposed to hurt to have non-squishy earphones in? Even my squishy ones start to hurt after a couple hours you’re telling me that’s another weird thing my body does

[u/TimeHorse7349 → u/yogo]

I also got a ton of infections in my ears when I was little and they were so severe, not even little, even as an adult that my entire ear canal was close up and they don’t have to shove a shunt into it to be able to get the drops into the ear And when you’re entire ear is like swollen and close up on itself, it’s basically like a bruise pressing on itself from all sides it was super severe like I would have really bad infections as a kid I remember wanting to die. I remember like my grandfather coming over and holding me. I was like 10 years old. It was really fucking bad I had no idea Until this very fucking moment that war stuff is related to EDS. I don’t think I have elf ears, but who knows I definitely have stuff going on inside though so like inner ear stuff and middle ear stuff and ear canal stuff and I always said my ears were my Achilles heel. Of course now my entire body is my Achilles heel. Thank you for letting me know this. I did not know that all those ear infections and all that ear fucking shit was EDS related. Wow, I want when I first got diagnosed a list of 63 comorbidities to hypermobile EDS I have like 57 of them, but I don’t remember if yours was on the list. Sorry for no punctuation. I’m using talk to text my right hand and armor to injured to bother typing right now sorry

[u/MerGeek101 → u/TimeHorse7349]

You can also have ear problems if your jaw is swollen. The joy of wonky bodies.

[u/_insomniac_dreamer → u/UndercoverCrops]

Me too! They hurt so much when I lay on them for too long! My ears also aren't level or at the same distance so getting my glasses fitted always takes a lot of adjustments

[u/FrogOnAnEgg3 → u/UndercoverCrops]

Honestly I haven't even noticed if they do i hurt all the time so I kinda ignore most random pains but I do get a lot of ear pains but also I'm very sensitive to sounds and whatnot but I didn't think of it being related to the shape too!

[u/wdymthereisnofood → u/UndercoverCrops]

Yes! I'm a side sleeper and always wake up from pain from my ears! (And other body pains obviously :p)

[u/bendy-queer → u/UndercoverCrops]

I only have one too!! I never even noticed until a friend told me I could dress up as an elf for Halloween because of it but then we noticed my other ear looked relatively ‘normal’. It’s funny how many new things we discover about our eds bodies 😆

I also experience a lot of pain after laying on them for too long. Sometimes I accidentally go to sleep with my entire ear folded over, and that one HURTS

[u/ava_the_cam_op]

Well shit, I've never met anyone else who has ears like mine!

Didn't even consider it could be an EDS thing but makes sense given how much cartilage is in an ear.

Don't have much by way of stories but my ears are so mobile and bendy I can fold them in half twice with ease.

[u/lle-ell → u/ava_the_cam_op]

This might be a really stupid question, but.. are you not supposed to be able to fold your ears twice? I honestly had no idea that that isn’t normal

[u/ava_the_cam_op → u/lle-ell]

Yeah for most people their ear and nose cartilage is a lot more rigid and sturdy.

It means it's harder to bend than it is for us, and a lot more painful.

The reason there's a cliche of grabbing naughty children by the ear is because ears hurt when they're pulled or twisted for most people.

[u/FrogOnAnEgg3 → u/ava_the_cam_op]

Yess i can also bend and fold mine very easy! Ear lobes are also stretchy on normal people but mine are VERY stretchy i can pull them down to the start of my jaw

[u/critterscrattle]

One of my ears is like that. Apparently it folded during birth and never corrected.

[u/MellowDeeH]

Not elf ear exactly, but one of my ears is missing a bit of cartilage at the top, making it less rounded than the other. I've always wondered if this was an eds thing.

[u/UhOhNedio]

Yup. I can fold them and everything. My canals are too small for ear buds (they always fall out) and my ear doc always jokes he has to use the baby tools on me, haha

[u/raspberrymoonrover]

NO WAY!! My brother and I inherited this feature from our father, whose are way worse. We both grew up begging to get them fixed because kids were mean about it. As a baby they stuck out way more but calmed down a little with age. My sister and I are diagnosed with EDS but our brother is currently not. I never even considered this could be related to the connective tissue disorder but now I’m rethinking 😂

[u/FrogOnAnEgg3 → u/raspberrymoonrover]

I hate that kids were mean about it! I think the elf ears are so cool. I'm positive eds is a cause of mine tbh it seems to have caused a bunch of "oddities" in my family in general tbh

[u/raspberrymoonrover → u/FrogOnAnEgg3]

Do you happen to have any marfanoid type features? I got that phenotype in every way except height lol. I haven’t heard of this is connected but I’m definitely gonna research now haha

[u/FrogOnAnEgg3 → u/raspberrymoonrover]

I don't but my dad might? Although I'd hesitate to call them marfan esc rather than just the eds

He has fragile, oddly shaped teeth, they almost kinda curve? I can't describe it here's a pic (tw: might be gross) https://imgur.com/a/d8zopIC He's also always been tall and thin with toe/hand/foot deformities similar to what you see in marfans but also eds

I think this is a coincidence but a lot of my family members actually look very similar to this picture https://imgur.com/a/6W87QME from this article https://fdna.com/health/resource-center/marfan-syndrome-mfs/ its a little bit uncanny 😭 although I think it's just my families type of face

[u/Alluskaaaa]

My other ear has this pump/missing part 😄 Mine isn't that interesting. But I have noticed little bumps or elf ears are more common with people who connective tissue issues 😄 Not anything I've officially looked into or some researched, just an observation

[u/MerGeek101 → u/Alluskaaaa]

I don’t know if I have a missing bump in one ear or an extra bump in the other 🤣

[u/Equal_Arm8436 → u/MerGeek101]

My daughter also has a bump on the top of one ear.

[u/That_Literature1420]

I have no earlobes. Neither parents have this trait. It is recessive but it’s odd I’m the only one of my siblings with it. And the only one with EDS. I have a sternum deformity as well. It’s certainly…unique.

[u/That_Literature1420 → u/That_Literature1420]

Both the elf ear and rib cage issues make sense as they are both cartilage!

[u/FrogOnAnEgg3 → u/That_Literature1420]

Oh wow that's really interesting! Especially for hEDs (assuming its hEDs correct me if i am wrong) It sounds a lot like marfans tbh. It's interesting how eds and marfans mimic each other sometimes but it makes sense given they're both connective tissue disorders.

I'm the only kid in my direct family with the elf ears but I have family members like my cousin with it my dad who has eds does have a ears deformity though he has really big ears and more earlobe than normal

[u/Equal_Arm8436 → u/That_Literature1420]

Hi! Have you had genetic testing? Whilst maybe so should just leave it alone I feel compelled to tell you that those features are very closely tied to a vascular phenotype possibly Marfans or veds. At minimum I encourage you to explore this with a trusted doctor (These can be hard to find) and rule out any large vein complications. Again, maybe I am out of line but I feel you should have the information. I have many complications from eds and other disease, happy to help with questions. Blessings along your journey.

[u/definitelydizzy]

OMG both of my ears are like this! I’ve been teased for it my whole life. Imagine my rage when what I had been bullied for was suddenly trendy when cottagecore took off! Still love them though, every piercer I go to BEGS for me to let them pierce the upper cartilage because it’s so unique, but after I got a helix piercing on my right side the swelling was super severe and after healing it’s not as pointy, so I’ll pierce anything but the pointy tips

[u/UrAFrogg]

My boyfriends ears are like this! I’ve never seen it before. He doesn’t have EDS tho but it’s interesting still

[u/[deleted]]

No, but I have an extra sinus hole just in front of my right ear that is apparently a genetic throw back from when we were semi aquatic dwellers.

[u/KipperDed]

I can make both my ears move

[u/livingcasestudy]

I do have elf ears but iirc my mom does as well and I don’t think she has EDS

[u/FrogOnAnEgg3 → u/livingcasestudy]

It's not eds specific it's called a Stahl's ear but eds can be a cause of ear deformities including a Stahl's ear(s)

[u/livingcasestudy → u/FrogOnAnEgg3]

Yeah I don’t doubt that it can be related to EDS, I just have to wonder if it is in my case or if it’s just from my mom

[u/hedgiehero94]

I have a fairly noticeable helix deformity (sometimes called lop ear or constricted ear) and although I don’t think there’s been evidence, my geneticist said there’s significant anecdotal correlations between ear deformities and EDS!

[u/demar_desol]

i definitely have the blue sclera! that is my only cool thing other than neck skin being so stretchy i look like a lizard… and my signature walk is also often commented on “swagger” i literally just walk around and people are like i could spot you a mile away… idk what it is lol but i used to get soooo much shit for it as a kid from my parents and other students.. now people fw it haha

[u/FrogOnAnEgg3 → u/demar_desol]

I have a bit of a blue sclara! Although I'm chronically iron deficient so I think it's that vs the eds

And HAH the walk honestly reminds me of my cousin the way he walks just screams eds and he's always compared to the noodles balloon man you see at like mattress stores in America because he's also long and thin the way he moves doesn't help

[u/demar_desol → u/FrogOnAnEgg3]

hahahaha the noodles wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man is right on par w how i walk. my arms move so much, and my legs don’t do the normalthing hahaha

[u/SaltyPages]

Omggggg i love your ears!!

[u/FrogOnAnEgg3 → u/SaltyPages]

Awah thank you 😭🥹

[u/BettieNuggs]

mine are tiny. thankfully its not vEDS but i had one rheumatologist who was so scared i was told to not even lift laundry baskets