The modification of my ear lobes has been an ongoing process since I first had them pierced at the ripe old age of 22. I would like to point out that the information contained in this article is what worked for me, and is not intended as a instructional or preferred method of doing things.
At A Glance Author wldfire_1 Contact wldfire@shaw.ca IAM wldfire_1 When A month ago Artist Wife Studio At Home Location Comox Valley When I was young, living at home, I was not allowed to have any form of piercing, and being the good boy that I was, I didn't push my luck with my parents. The day I moved out on my own, I went and had my left ear pierced with a gun. I was thrilled to finally have it done, with that tiny little stud in it. About a year later I got the other side pierced and shortly after that I had a second hole put in my left ear lobe. Gee, now I was a real rebel. Over the next 6 or so years, I was brave enough to stretch up to a huge 10 gauge. I laugh now, but then it was something pretty severe, and rather upsetting to my parents.
Once I started really stretching my lobes, the fun began. The earlier gauges were not as bad, and stretching went fairly fast. Once I got near 0g, I started to make larger leaps between sizes. My right side seemed to stretch a lot easier then my left, but I think that may be due to the fact that I had two holes in it. Eventually I managed to get the two up to a 0g and a 7/16". The stretching wasn't bad, but the fact there was a lot of pressure put on the skin between the two holes, made it quite uncomfortable for me. I had to make a tough decision, to take out the smaller of the two, in hopes that it will make a difference in my stretching. My right ear was already at 5/8" so I was feeling really lop-sided.
It didn't take long to stretch my left ear up to 5/8", now that the second earring was out. The hole didn't shrink up much, though, so it kind of looked weird there. I have been thinking about having it scalpelled so that the two holes would be one. Since we live in a semi-rural area, no one reasonably close would be able to do it, and going to the mainland just wasn't possible.
I decided that we would do it ourselves. My wife and myself have done most of our own piercings, without any problems, so I didn't think this would be much different. I purchased some disposable scalpels, and other miscellaneous medical supplies that I needed to do the job. They were sitting around for a week or so, as I wanted to psych myself up for this, and I really wasn't sure if I wanted to use an antiseptic or not. Then one night I decided it was time.
Both my wife and I put on our latex gloves, and she cleaned my ear and surrounding area with Povidone-Iodine to disinfect the area. She then used a surgical marking pen to mark out were the cuts would be. I laid down and put clothes under my head, in case of blood, and she laid some medical drop paper over the area, to catch blood etc. We were not too sure what to expect other then a fair amount of blood. Now came the moment of truth, the cutting. My wife put the blade into a little Bacitracin Zinc ointment to help with lubrication of the blade. She started very slow moving it from the one hole side to the other. The pain at first started off reasonably okay, and then it became a fairly painful experience. I continued to concentrate on my deep breathing and thought of my happy place. I could feel the warm blood running down my face from the fresh cut. Soon the endorphins began to rush through my body, and let me tell you, it was a fantastic feeling. The first cut was done , and I was doing really well. I took a couple of minute break to gather my energy between the first and second cut, and then we proceeded. It went a lot more smoothly then the first cut, I think partially because my wife knew what to expect, and also with the endorphins raging through my system, I was a lot better prepared.
When she was done, she used a hemostat to remove the leftover tissue from my ear, and showed me. I was rather awestruck with the fact there was a piece of my ear. She cleaned up my lobe, and put on some Antibacterial cream, and inserted a tunnel into it. I had a ¾ " Tunnel here, and it went in very easily. Once that was all done, I was amazed at how little it hurt. During my many times stretching piercings, it would usually have a burning sensation after, sometimes more painful then other times. The bleeding stopped fairly quickly, and I felt like a million dollars. I now had my ears evened out, and I felt a lot more complete.
It is now 2 weeks later, and I now have my ears up to 7/8". The left ear that we scalpelled turned out to be a perfect 7/8" once the ear took a more round shape between the two holes. My goal of 1", which seemed like a million miles away, is now almost a reality. The piece of my ear that was removed is sitting in a small vial here on my computer desk, in alcohol. Some may find that morbid, but to me, it just seemed right.
I hope people find this article informative and/or interesting. I am very new to writing down my thoughts and feelings, but I felt I would like to share this part of my life with others. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me or IM me on IAM.BME.