At A Glance Author Ren Contact renwolft98@aol.com IAM Ren When A month ago Artist mostly self done Studio mostly at home Location Baltimore, MD I got my ears pierced the first time when I was 13. I didn't know any better, so I got them done at the mall like all of my friends. All I remember is that it hurt so much it brought tears to my eyes. I used the aftercare solution that the store sold mandatory with every piercing and I gritted my teeth and rotated the earrings several times a day as instructed. And I had problems with those two simple ear lobe piercings ever since. Everytime I'd wear earrings, the holes would get irritated, start discharging and get all crusty. Even after they had been healed for 10 years. I tried every kind of jewelry imaginable: hypoallergenic, silver, gold, fishhooks, studs, bullet backs, butterfly backs. I would only wear earrings on special occasions and take them out as soon as I could. Of course leaving the piercings empty for long periods of time meant that the holes would start to close up and I'd have to punch through the skin that grew over the back of the holes each ti me I put a pair of earrings in. It wasn't very pretty, but I got used to it. I thought about letting the holes close and getting my earlobes repierced, but I hated the thought of getting pierced with a gun again. When all of my friends got second earlobe piercings, I wanted to as well, but I didn't want any more problems.
But then I found www.bmezine.com and started researching. I got my first non-traditional piercing, a conch, and I decided to start stretching my ear lobes. I started with a pair of 16 gauge captive bead rings with adorable tigers eye stone beads. I put them in and left them in and my ear problems ended. After a few months, I tried a pair of 14 gauge blue titanium cbrs and they felt even better. Now I was hooked.
I gave it a lot of thought before I decided to go any further. It may not seem like that big of a deal, but I knew that I was about to drastically alter the shape of my ears, very likely permanently. In then end, I decided to go for it. I went from 14 gauge up to 10 gauge titanium cbrs, which technically wasn't good because I skipped 12 gauge, but I was lucky that my lobes were pretty much stretching on their own at this point. Next was my first pair of plugs, 8 gauge titanium and then 6 gauge tunnels. Each time I was very careful to wait several months between stretches, use plenty of lubricant, and to not stretch any further than was comfortable. Almost a year after I started my stretching project, I made my first big mistake. I purchased a pair of what I thought were 4 gauge Pyrex plugs and a 4 gauge taper. Over a period of several painful hours, I coaxed the taper through and followed through with the plugs. My ears were very sore and slightly swollen afterw ards, but I used a moist hot compress on them and that helped a lot. Later I found out that the plugs and taper weren't 4 gauge, but 2 gauge. No wonder my ear lobes were so sore! I was determined not to make the same mistake again. From them on, I stretched by the book, taking plenty of time and only stretching one size at a time. I didn't have any other problems until this thanksgiving.
I was nearing my coal of ½", but no matter how much pfte tape I wrapped around my 7/16" plugs, no matter how much lube I used, not matter how much I tried, I couldn't get the ½" plugs in. I was only around a millimeter away, which certainly didn't sound like a lot. So I went down to my local piercing studio and asked to have the ½" plugs tapered in. The piercer had to use a lot of force, but he managed to get the first plug in on the second try. His mistake was not stopping when the plug didn't go in easily. In retrospect, I should have left after the plug didn't go in easily the first time. I definitely should have left when I realized how sore my ear was once the plug was in. But I didn't want to have ear lobes of different sizes, so I let him do the other side too. This was my mistake.
I can't stress this strongly enough. Listen to your body. If something hurts, stop. Stretching should never be painful. If it is, or if its taking a lot of strength to get the next size plug in, it means your body isn't ready for it. Be patient. With both ½" plugs in and my ears throbbing, the piercer told me that one side had a slight tear, so I should be sure to keep it clean and treat it like a new piercing. When I got home and looked in the mirror, I knew something was wrong. I decided to wait a day to see if the swelling was going to go down. When it didn't, I decided to take the plugs out. I was shocked by the condition of my ear lobes. Both were badly torn, bruised, swollen and oozing blood and other fluids. And worst of all, both sides had large blow outs around the back of the holes. I was disgusted with myself. I gently cleaned my ears and soaked them in a warm, mild, salt water solution and then, because I didn't want the holes to close up complet ely, I put in the biggest pair of plugs that would go in without any pressure, which turned out to be 4 gauge. That's how much they were swollen. I was so frustrated! It had taken me a year to go from 4 gauge to almost ½" and in a matter of days, I was back where I started.
Well, the story has a happy ending. With small, light plugs in and frequent salt water soaks and warm moist compresses, my ear lobes healed in less than a month and I was able to start stretching up again. Fortunately it was much easier the second time around, and by this Christmas, I reached my goal of happy, healthy ½" ear lobes.