does that go all the way through???

At A Glance Author pacdee Contact PAC_D_78@yahoo.com Artist reason Location az/milwakee

About 9 months ago I bought a pair of 14 gauge internally threaded curved barbells for my girlfriend at the time. Well she was sleeping with my friend so needless to say it took the $60 pair as my own. Until that point I had been deathly afraid of needles. And didn't know what to do with them. Until, I met Reason. He worked with me and was more pierced than I had seen. Well upon further conversation he brought up the fact he did most of his work himself. This got my mind running. So I asked him about the rings I had if he wanted them. In retort he answered why don't you use them? This thought never dawned on me, but as I thought about I considered how I would look with holes in my ears.

Finally I decided what better closure than to carry around the rings that she by this point was pestering me for. So I did it. I went through the usual fun times and it was on. He started with the usual conversation blah blah. Then he placed his clamps and I got all antsy. He said just tell me when you.....Woah!!!! I could feel the needle enter my ear and it was nothing like I had ever felt before. It wasn't pain as much as a full awareness of the fact I had an earlobe. So placed the ring and moved onto the other one.

A few months later I was looking at these little rings hanging from my ears and decided to stretch. So I went out and bought a nice pair of titanium 12 gauge rings. They slid through with no effort.

On to 10 this was a difficult task not because of the size of my lobe but because the beads were much more difficult to get off and on. By this time the girl I was dating was 1 gauge behind me and wanted me to stretch so she could have the 10-gauge jewelry so she could be at he ideal size. I eventually worked them in with a slight effort. They were the first stretch that I could actually feel STRETCHING for a good 3 days my ears were very sensitive and sore.

The 8-gauge stretch was a whole new feeling. I had too wait so long it drove me nuts. Finally after a good month and a half I was pretty secure I could keep doing the stretching by myself. Boy was I wrong. I forced the 8-gauge ring through my right ear and heard a slight pop and my ear got warm. I cleaned it off with a paper towel and noticed blood. I was so scared I had done some major damage. I called my piercer and he told me to come by. Yep he said. You blew your ear out. All I thought was great no more stretchings. So I asked. He told me if I was going to keep stretching it would be a little more difficult and he could walk me through it. So for 2 months I let my 8 gauges hang and dangle. When I felt secure that it was time to stretch them I had called my piercer and let him do it.

But this was drastic I had bought 1 inch rings instead of the usual ¾ they were so heavy and I could fell a major pulling every time I turned my head for a few weeks. As much as I thought I needed smaller rings I left them in. Until the next stretch any way.

At this point I thought eyelets would be a better idea. Just because I was to a point where the eyelets were easier to remove and actually were big enough to see through. So I went to my piercer and he pulled out a taper. This was a new idea to me. He explained the procedure and went at his business. I felt a really tight feeling in my ear then he slid the eyelets in and I was amazed that it was the easiest stretch to date. The felling of tightness went away quickly, and they were ready to stretch again after a few weeks. Unfortunately my cash flow prevented a further stretching. But I went online and bought a pair of 2 gauge eyelets and the taper to stretch them from bme's online store. And by the way the store prices are better than almost any shop in my are and the quality is wonderful.

I went in and asked to do the stretching my self. He agreed to walk me through the process. I slid the taper in slowly and felt it tighten up, and boy oh boy did it tighten up. But irregardles I slid the jewelry in behind it and let it sit for a minute. Then came the hardest part. I for the life of me could not get the rubber band on the back. After an almost endless struggle it finnaly fit on. Then I repeated with the second ear.

Well here I am 9 months from just tell me when your ready in a pair of 2 gauge eyelets, Probably as far as I want to go. But the original 14 gauges are now in my nipples and I have a new hobby.

I have also come to learn that the worst part of piercing is not the pain but the time it takes to heal. With every new size I would have to find something to do with my time not to think about how soon I could stretch again. Also I have learned that piercing and stretching are a new form of meditation...just really loud meditation. Well thanks for listening to me ramble :)

-PACDEE