Since I've found BME, I've learned a lot about both piercings and tattoos. Unfortunately, I had gauged my ears before then, and had not known the proper tools, procedures, or the consequential dangers that could have occured. Luckily, the worst did not happen, but I urge everyone who reads this to do exactly the OPPOSITE of what I did. Research your mod, know how to do it (if DIY), and remember to keep everything as sterile as possible. Basically, know what you're doing.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist myself Studio my bathroom Location az Being 15 at the time, and having a ton of friends with tons of piercings (most stretched and self-done), I decided to try it myself. I had wanted to stretch my ears for a fairly long time and the only thing keeping me from doing so was my mother.
Honestly, my mom isn't a piercing-Nazi at all. She allowed me to get my eyebrow pierced for my 15th birthday, and has since agreed to let me get a tattoo for my 16th; however, the one thing she absolutely loathed was stretched ears. Of course, that happened to be exactly what I wanted.
So, after much internal debate and talks with my friends who had experience with stretching I borrowed a pair of 8g stretching pinchers from a friend (who had no more use for them since he had already stretched larger to a 2g) so that I could stretch my ears that night. Did I mention that I was stretching from a regular post size? What is that, about a 20g? Already I was off to a bad start.
I admit, I should have done more research on it before trying... but hindsight's 20/20. Also, I should have thought about my friend's advice about boiling the pinchers to sterilize them. Come on, they're ACRYLIC, what did I think was going to happen? Yes, that was stupid, I know. Anyway, after rescuing the now awkwardly misshapen pinchers from the boiling water, I proceeded with the stretch. I decided to do it in the shower, since I heard that hot water softens the tissue and allows for a smoother stretch. So I wiped down my ear and the pincher with alcohol and began to push it through. The odd shape that the pincher had taken after being boiled made it difficult to hold and my fingers often slipped which caused mass amounts of pain. I struggled to get it past about the 10g mark for a while, and then in a moment of frustration I grabbed the pincher, gripped my ear as firmly as I could, and shoved the pincher as far as it would go. Not smart, not smart, NOT SMART.
Immediately I was doubled over in pain. It felt like I has stuck a hot iron rod through my ear and my eyes were watering like mad. After that experience, I decided not to stretch the other ear and to wait until I had enough money to buy a smaller gauge to start out.
I left the pincher in overnight, because I didn't think that I could switch to a tunnel so soon. Seeing as how my ear already hurt like a mother, I didn't want to chance any more pain. Turns out, it was probably a worse decision.
I woke up the next morning with the pincher lodged securely in my ear. I couldn't move it. The slightest touch would send pain shooting through my head. I was horrified. I was sure that I had done something horrible to my ear. I knew I had to take out the pincher. So, after getting it as wet as possible with some Bactine I had found, I pulled it out as gently as possible (which wasn't all that gentle) and immediately put in the tunnel. It felt so much better. After that, healing went fine. I kept it clean and free of crusties, and it gave me no problems (besides the gross smell).
To this day I don't know if I just had a reaction to the acrylic pinchers, or if I had slightly torn the tissue in my ear, and although I do regret the way I did it, I don't regret stretching at all. Since that first stretch, I have stretched my other ear as well. Blame it on stupidity, but I didn't even take my own advice. I now have a thick ring of scar tissue enveloping the hole in my lobe, which is making it very difficult to stretch larger. If I had done it properly, or gone to a professional, I would not be wasting so much time getting to my goal size. Basically, my poor decisions are still affecting me.
I guess what I would tell other young people who are determined to stretch their ears is: don't rush into it. Think it through, get the right tools to do it, and have patience. It's not worth it to rush into it and risk messing it up.