By that I mean that I stretched my helix piercings. I had searched a bit on BME and most of what I saw were dermal punched cases with some stretchings few and far between. I already had the holes... I just wanted them bigger. I had read all about what could happen if you stretched cartilage too fast. Scary stuff... necrosis, ear collapse, cartilage shattering, etc. None of that sounded very appealing. I still didn't want to have to nurse and heal a brand new set of holes when I "could" stretch the ones that I had.
At A Glance Author Bobby Contact Bobby@bme.anon IAM epileptic When It just happened Artist i dit it all Studio my room mostly Location near the back of my house So I decided that I was indeed going to do it. I was currently sporting some 14g cbr's and had a pair of 12's laying around from stretching my lobes. Inserted them with no hassle whatsoever. The only thing was that the bead was way bigger than the ones on my 14's. Made it very uncomfortable. After a few weeks, the discomfort and I decided that I could go to a 10g. I planned to stay there for a while and the jump between 12 and 10 isn't that bad at all. So... I looked at the cbr's for a minute... Thinking about how dumb I was and how bad it was going to hurt, and proceeded. Again, no hassle, just went right in. However the jewelry was very heavy and very uncomfortable. After two days I started getting migraines that my normal medication wouldn't get rid of. My head was just hot, and my ears were a bit red. I thought that it might be the weight of the jewelry and took out the beads. Instant relief, but it was still too heavy.
I went down to the local shop the next day to get some 10g plugs. Paid them, put 'em in and felt true relief. So about a month and a half goes by and I'm ready for them to be 8g now... I had bought tapers, and some awesome black titanium tunnels... I know... those are small tunnels, but they looked great. Tapered right up there and inserted the plugs. No pain, a little bit of throbbing afterwards, but I can handle that.
So I'm at 8g and my holes are kinda tender. My hair keeps getting stuck inside the piercings when I clean them and thus, I had a few flare ups. Nothing terrible though. The tunnels are very long(about 1/2") and get snagged on just about everything. Causing lots and lots of squinty-eyed head jerking and sucking sounds of "ssssssssssssss". I put up with it though, cause it looked so damn awesome. All of the little teenage girls around where I live with their helix piercings are starting to take notice and they're like.. "Oh my god!!! I can see through the top of his ear!!!" Makes me smile.
Well a month or two down the road... I have this terrible fight with my fianceé which results in the two of us breaking up(sigh). I'm feeling like shit and decide that stretching to a 6 won't hurt me anymore than I already do. I knew though, that the taper wasn't going t go all the way through in the one fluid motion. Afterall, it's a chunk of cartilage, not a fatty lobe. So I drove it as far as it would go(about halfway) and then secured it with the o-rings. Repeating for the opposite ear of coarse. Then I went to sleep. If you've never slept with a big assed taper sticking out of the top of your ear, then... You're missing out on something. it was odd to say the least. Not impossible, or painful really, just different.
I wake up, and go to the bathroom. I had my lube and my tunnels. Slid the tapers through the rest of the way and chased them with the tunnels. Voila! Beautiful! A bit of the usual throbbing followed, but again, nothing terrible. At this point, I feel a lot better about my situation with my fianceé and I'm quite proud of myself. I've done something that I haven't really seen a lot of on BME. I might stay at 6g, but I might go up to a 4. If I get bit by the guage bug again, I'll probably take the plunge. There are other things on my mind right now. Like other piercings, possible tattoos, and life in general.
All in all, the experience wasn't nearly as terrible, or horrific as I had expected. For that I'm glad. I don't know that I'd advise that anyone do it rather than getting punched. I've never been punched so I couldn't say that one was better or worse, but this was good for me when I needed it. They do look great too! I'm quite happy with the results.