All the signs your coworker has had secret plastic surgery: From ‘bat’ ears to ‘bunny’ nose and a subtle hairstyle giveaway

You sit next to them every day and think you know everything about them. 

But one day your coworker comes into the office and something seems ‘off’. 

Suddenly, their hair is up in a ponytail for the first time in months or they started growing out their beard. Maybe they appear more youthful and alert, or less expressive. 

It might not be your imagination. It could be a sign your coworker has had secret plastic surgery.

One in four Americans now report getting cosmetic work, ranging from fillers and Botox to a face lift or nose job. It was fewer than one in 100 in the 1990s.

And plastic surgeons have told the Daily Mail that with modern techniques, high-quality procedures are virtually ‘unnoticeable’ to the untrained eye.

We spoke with three top surgeons who revealed the remarkably subtle signs a colleague, relative or loved one has indulged in a secret touch up…

‘Pixie’ or ‘bat’ ears 

Generally, there are two types of ear lobes: free and attached. While attached ear lobes are directly connected to the head, free ones are floppy and hang down.

But if your colleague’s ear lobes are stretched out, it’s not genetics. It’s ‘pixie ear’ (sometimes known as ‘bat ear’) which Dr Norman Rowe, a plastic surgeon at Rowe Plastic Surgery in New Jersey, calls a ‘telltale’ sign someone went under the knife.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘Pixie ear is certainly not normal and not anatomic, and it’s usually a result of as face lift, neck lift, or both.’

The ear lobe normally has a ‘U’ shape that stops before hitting the cheek. 

But in some poorly done face and neck lifts, surgeons put too much pressure on the incision site, causing the ear lobe to become abnormally stretched out.  

A face lift, also called a rhytidectomy, involves pulling back a flap of skin on each side of the face to reduce sagging and tighten skin. 

There are several types of face lifts, but a traditional one involves separating skin from its underlying tissues and tightening the muscles around the face and neck. 

About 131,000 Americans get a face lift every year. They can cost anything from about $11,000 to $30,000.

A neck lift, also called a lower rhytidectomy, is a less invasive version of the procedure and is performed about 160,000 times per year. It generally costs between $3,000 and $15,000. 

Dr Sean McNally, a plastic surgeon at the Oregon Clinic in Portland, told the Daily Mail that scarring near the back of the ear could indicate a recent face lift. 

He said: ‘For face lifts the incisions are typically run around the ear. The ones in front of the ear can heal so well it’s hard to tell, but the ones behind the ear are usually more visible.’

Dr Rowe also noted that someone who has had a face lift may have a ‘boxier’ tragus, the small piece of cartilage in front of the ear canal. 

He said: ‘It’s normally got a curve to it, but when you cut behind the ear, sometimes it ends up being a little boxy. That is telltale.’

Hair changes

Is your coworker suddenly wearing her hair down for the first time in months? She may have had a face lift, Dr Rowe said.

‘I see it all the time with my patients if they’re one, two or three weeks post op. Their hairstyle automatically changes. They might wear their hair one way for years, then all of a sudden their hair is different,’ he said. 

‘That’s to cover up scars. Especially if you’ve had a face lift, you’re not going to pin it back.’ 

Dr Rowe said the same goes for a man, as he may let his beard grow out to hide swelling and incision sites. 

Generally, there should be about an inch of space between the end of a man’s sideburns and the start of his beard. 

However, Dr Christopher Costa, founder of Platinum Plastic Surgery in Las Vegas, said that if that space looks like it is closing up, it is usually because of a face lift, since the face gets pulled back. 

He also noted that if a person’s hairline starts to shift, it could be due to a brow lift. 

Also called a forehead lift, a brow lift involves repositioning the forehead to get rid of wrinkles and raise the eyebrows further up. 

About 88,000 brow lifts are done in the US every year, and it costs about $5,000. 

A woman may also stop dying her roots if she’s had a brow lift, Dr Rowe said. 

He said: ‘When you color your hair, the toxic chemicals can affect the incisions and the wound healing. You won’t want someone manipulating the scalp too aggressively because it can cause the incision to open up.’ 

Plastic surgeon Dr Johnny Betteridge has suggested that Kim Kardashian may have had a face lift based on changes to her hairline. 

He said: ‘Given her facial appearance, I think she had a Ponytail Facelift around two or three years ago, where the scars are discreetly put in the hairline by the temple and behind the ear’ 

Maybe it’s not just Maybelline

Everyone seems to have a skincare routine and nearly three in four US women wear makeup regularly.

But if a co-worker’s skin looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Dr Costa said: ‘Yes, skincare works. But glass-smooth skin with no pores, no fine lines and an almost wax-like glow? That is likely a combination of laser resurfacing, chemical peels and Botox.’ 

In laser skin resurfacing, surgeons use a beam to destroy the outer layer of skin and heat the underlying layer.

This is said to stimulate the growth of collagen, a protein that improves skin firmness and texture, leading skin to become smoother and tighter as it heals and regrows. 

It costs about $400 to $500 per procedure.

A chemical peel, meanwhile, is a type of ‘resurfacing’ that uses chemical solutions rather than lasers to remove the top layers of the skin. 

Depending on how deep the procedure goes, it can remove wrinkles, acne, uneven skin tones, dryness, scars, and precancerous growths, according to the Mayo Clinic. 

Light chemical peels cost around $100 to $300, while deeper peels can run up to $6,000.  

‘Narrow’ or ‘bunny’ nose

A nose job may be pretty obvious, but Dr Costa pointed to more subtle signs. 

Also known as a rhinoplasty, the operation changes the size and shape of the nose. 

The surgery may involve making the nose smaller by removing some of the cartilage and bone, or making it larger by adding cartilage from the ears and bone from the hips, elbow or skull. 

On average, the procedure costs about $7,000, though it can range between $3,000 and $15,000. 

Dr Costa explained that while a good rhinoplasty should be undetectable, a narrow nose could be a sign of a recent procedure.

He said: ‘A good rhinoplasty is all about balance, but if the nose tip looks pinched or the nostrils suddenly flare in a way they never used to, it’s a sign of overcorrection.’ 

Signs of Botox could also show up on your colleague’s nose. Experts point to bunny lines, creases along both sides of the nose that form when someone laughs, smiles, or squints. 

These typically form if too much Botox is injected into this area, as it can weaken muscles that pull the eyebrows down. Muscles around the nose then have to compensate, causing bunny lines. 

Additional Botox around the sides of the nose can help get rid of bunny lines, though they naturally fade in about three to four months.  

Dr Costa noted a ‘tiny shadow above the upper lip’ could be one indicator of a rhinoplasty. 

‘That means the angle of the nose has changed, likely from surgery,’ he said. 

Cleveland Clinic estimates 350,000 nose jobs are performed every year in the US.