When I was about sixteen I had two post earrings in each lobe, both done by a piercing gun. After about a year I had gotten bored with them and because of my new interest in modification, decided to change them. I started by stretching my lower lobes to 14 gauges, and put 7/16" captive bead rings in them. After those healed I became even more restless and around February 2003, I decided to stretch my second lobes and create orbitals.
At A Glance Author Karebayr3 Contact Karebayr3@bme.anon When Six months ago It took me a few days to complete the stretches, since I did them on my own and without the proper tools. I started by wearing hoop earrings, the kind where the post is smaller than the hoop itself. I eventually worked the hoop through my holes, in effect creating about 16 gauge holes. They were throbbing slightly, much like the feeling you get when you pierce them. I gave them a few days to cool down with some sea salt soaking and regular cleaning.
After a couple of days had passed, I moved on to my large sewing needle. The point of the needle is blunt, which helped keep me from creating new holes, or just hurting my ear more than I wanted to. On the first day, I cleaned the needle with hydrogen peroxide and worked it in to each of my holes as far as I could stand it. The needle only made it about 1/3 of the way, which was disappointing. The second day, after cleaning it, I worked the needle in again. My ears were still pretty pissed about the day before, but this time I managed almost half way. The transition in the middle of the needle was pretty tough to get over, so I stopped for the day, and wore my 16 gauge hoops with a post through the same hole in each ear.
By the third day I decided it was time to finish the job; I was tired of messing around with it. I shoved the needle through my right ear and felt the awesome rush of adrenaline and blood. I then did the same to the left lobe, and had the same feeling, with a little bit more pain. Since I had my lower lobes stretched for a year or so, I took those captive bead rings and put them in my newly stretched upper lobes.
I let the new holes heal for a few days with cleaning and salt soaks, and then worked the captive bead rings into both holes in my lobes. I had my new orbitals!! I kept them like this for a few days, until I decided I needed smaller captive bead rings. The diameter of the 7/16"s I had were slightly larger than the distance between the holes in my lobes. This caused my lobes to bow out, which was kind of weird looking and slightly uncomfortable.
I went to West Lafayette to New Breed (formerly Ground Zero) in search of smaller rings. Chris was there and helped me out, and I bought two 3/8" captive bead rings. I went home and switched rings and was much more comfortable and my ears were happier.
My lobes continued healing and were only sore for about 4 days. My left one had a little bit more trouble than the right, but otherwise all went well. I have had my orbitals for about six months now and I love them to death. I am so happy that I did it and would do it again in a heartbeat.
I don't know that I would recommend doing this yourself, unless you are capable of causing yourself pain. It probably would have been much easier for me to just go to Chris and have him do it, but that was not possible in my situation since I was under age and my mom would never allow it. I also risked the possibility of blowing out my ears and creating cyst-like knobs on my ears, but because I didn't do it all in one sitting, my ears are still beautiful.
For anyone considering getting lobe orbitals, I say go for it. The pain involved is very mild, as I said before, similar to getting them pierced. I currently have the same captive bead rings in them, the bead part on the back of my lobe. I usually don't keep a bead in them because it is easier to clean and can sometimes be a hassle to put the bead in.
My orbitals also have amazing camouflage abilities. It took my parents a few months to notice them, and I have gotten two jobs while having them. Some people will notice, but usually not in a negative manner. Most people who see them comment on how interesting or different they are, many even saying they look cute. When my mom noticed I thought she would be mad or tell me to take them out, since she is a pretty old fashioned woman. She only asked me what I did and said, "Well that is something different" and left it at that. I have not seen anyone else in my city with lobe orbitals, and that makes them all the more worthwhile for me. I love them forever and am more than glad I did them.