It first started when I saw Brandon Boyd (from incubus') ears. I was really intrigued and after a while I decide that I wanted flesh tunnels too, mainly because I didn't know anyone with this done but also because I like individual/different piercings. I was looking into scalpelling or dermal punching but realized that if, later on, I decided to take out the jewellery I wanted it to heal back up normally. And with stretching I could later surgically stich up the hole.
At A Glance Author munkyman Contact i_eat_pixies@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Alex Studio Area51 Location Basingstoke, UK I had already had other piercings done before, tongue, upper ear, arm, pa, nipple, so I wasn't worried about the pain. My pa wasn't that bad even though it was self performed using a 2.4 introcan needle and a 2.4 keeper (don't worry I know what I'm doing!!). My nipple was the most painful (also self performed - 1.6), only get it done if you really, really want it done. OWWW!!!
I signed all the forms and Alex sat me down and told me the risks and the aftercare procedure. He was really proffesional although I knew him personally, and the studio was incredibly clean. He used 2.4mill needles and 2.4mill jewellery because we both think that there is no point downsizing if the right size hole is already there, agree or not, it worked for me. After a week I decided to stretch to 3mill (starting slow), I used a surgical steel stretching crescent with alot of vaseline. This started to heal quite quickly so two weeks after that I stretched to 5mill because I like to go up in 2mill increments as it is quicker but not to much of a stretch. For me anyway, I have been told that I have stretchy earlobes which helps alot!
Anyway, a few weeks after that I decided to stretch to 8mill to even the number out early on. This was quite painful and there was a bit of blood, not too bad though. Even though it wasn't to extreme, I decide to leave it for about 3 weeks to heal up and 'deflate' as it was a bit swollen. I used a saline solution to clean the piercings and the area around the site because it was not to strong yet did the job well - about 2 teaspoons to 1 cup of hot water. After waiting for a while I bought some more jewellery and a taper, both 10mill. I knew that this was going to hurt a bit so I tried to calm myself down, seeing as i was excited. I started by coating the taper with a thick layer of vaseline and put some on the jewellery (a surgical steel flared eyelet). I took out the 8mill plug and started to push the taper through, it started to hurt quite alot so I held it in place and stopped for a sec to get used to it, after about a minute I carried on pushing the taper through de spite the pain. As I got the taper right through I slipped and pulled it out, causing me to shout out quite loudly! I couldn't see the hole for the amount of blood. Blood was dripping very quickly from the hole so I put in the jewellery (very painfully!) and cleaned the area with saline. I had a bath later that evening to soak the piercing for as long as possible to reduce the swelling as it was very tender and painful, this was very beneficial as a few hours afterward the swelling had gone down and it was alot less painful. Because this didn't go as planned I left the stretching to heal, a month or so.
About 5 weeks later I stretched to 12mill, same procedure as before but it was almost painless and went very well, a week later I stretched to 14, then a week later 16, then 18 the week after that. Somewhere between 8 and 10 I started stretching my right ear, which is now the same size as my left lobe, my right lobe was definately easier to stretch and the stretching went flawlessly. I still clean my piercing with saline solution to stop any infections. I would definately recommend Area51 as they are clean and professional, althiugh Jon has recently and suddenly left which sucks 'cause he was rad.
I know I stretched very quickly but it worked fine so don't lecture me about waiting, people's ears are different! Well, I hope you find this somewhat useful if you decide to stretch, or if you are just interested in stretching. I hope to stretch to 22mill so wish me luck! If anyone wants to contact me to trade tips or just chat then feel free to email me at i_eat_pixies@hotmail.com. Oh yeah, and check out my website http://www.munkyspuff.20m.com which should be updated soon. Thx for reading!
munkyman*