Around 4 years ago I had my ear lobes scalpelled to 5 mm. I already had numerous piercings, and my shiny new tunnels were a welcome addition. I gradually stretched them up to around 8mm and was really pleased with the way they looked. Over time though I gradually lost a few piercings (due to rejection mostly), and when I landed a job working in a very conservative environment I made the decision to take out the lobe jewelery, just leaving my scaffold piercing knowing that the small holes left behind would not be hugely noticeable.
At A Glance Author Netastrophe Contact Netastrophe@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Myself Studio At home Location Norfolk, UK To a degree I felt that I had passed through a 'phase'. For a while body modification was almost an obsession-I was constantly planning my next piercing or scarification and my entire life seemed to revolve around my mods. But gradually this faded-until recently.
My Husband decided to get a new tattoo recently so we started spending some time in our local studio, and it was while we were in there one day that I saw the most beautiful jewelery I had ever seen. Gorgeous 5mm pyrex plugs with the most delicate little pansy painted on them in a vibrant lilac colour. Suddenly the old urge was back. I didn't buy them straight away though-since taking out my old jewelery I had been able to wear normal earrings so wasn't sure whether I would be able to get 5mm jewelery back in again. Fortunately my Mother in Law has a large collection of knitting needles, so armed with those and some lubricant I gave it a go. Much to my surprise, the 4mm went in relatively easily, while the 5mm offered some resistance. From doing this little experiment I knew that I wouldn't be able to get the tunnels straight in as they were flared, with the widest point being around 7mm. I knew it would be stupid to try forcing them straight in, so instead I bought a pair of 5mm 'top hat' style flesh tunnels. They took a little persuasion to get in, but on the whole they slipped in nicely. I left those in for a day or so to 'calm down', then gradually increased the diameter by adding PTFE tape to them. I hated the way they looked-as they were just cheap black plastic, but I persevered with them all the same.
I then bought my little flower plugs as an incentive, as I can become bored very easily, and gently tried to ease them in, but I just couldn't bring myself to push them hard enough. I knew it would be a stretch to get them in, but despite my Hubbies cries of 'just push it, it will be a little pop then it will be done' I couldn't do it. Despite using gallons of moisturizer as a gentle lubricant (bearing in mind they were fully healed!) my left lobe had got very dry, and I could feel the skin cracking rather than stretching so knew it would be silly of me to force it.
Around a week after putting in the top hats, the dry skin had cleared up so I had another go. I lubricated my ear, then dipped the bottom of the jewelery into the lubricant and gently started pushing. I had the jewelery at a slight angle and I could feel one edge of it at the back of my ear (I was pushing from the front), so put on more lubricant and gently eased the back of my ear lobe over the jewelery. It took a fair bit of persuasion, but barely any pain so I stuck with it, and within a couple of minutes the first one was in. It looked so beautiful once it was in that I was determined to get the matching one in on the other side. I repeated the process, but this time my ear offered more resistance. I could feel the skin stinging as it stretched, so I took it very slowly so as not to tear the tissue, and finally I felt the jewelery pop into into hole.
I felt incredibly satisfied with myself and the plugs look absolutely gorgeous. Even my Mother in Law agrees and she has always hated stretched lobes! My lobes look so girly and delicate, although I do feel that I will stretch them further in the near future. I only ever wore plain jewelery before, but I'm getting more girly in my old age and like 'pretties', and our local studio has some lovely blackline plugs with a sparkly snowflake type design which I adore-but they start at 8mm.
I know I probably could have stretched my lobes much quicker if I really wanted to, but I know that these things need to be taken slowly. There was no way I was going to risk damaging my lobes by rushing things. And besides, the fact that I took my time made it so much more worth it once it was done!
I am in the planning stages of 2 new tattoos, and have thought recently that I would like to suspend again at some point (Hubby is trying to organize a tandem suspension for us), so my obsession with bodmod seems to be back!