I got my ears pierced for the first time with a gun at Wal-mart when I was younger. I was about 10 the first time; I do not really remember it. I let them grow out after awhile and since them I got them pierced twice more with a gun. I did not realize until recently that a gun was a bad idea, but the last time I got them pierced was about 3 months ago with a needle and a small 20-gauge stud.
At A Glance Author Becca Seraph Contact Becca Seraph@bme.anon IAM Silhouettes When It just happened Artist Myself Studio Computer Room Location Lower Indiana What I remember from the actual piercing was that the needle actually hurt less than the gun, but I was insistent on getting a typical stud put in. I was not really much of a fan of stretched lobes until recently. My friend Jake has very large stretched ears; they are about 1 inch.
Anyways, I have been looking at stretched piercing pictures on BME for about a month now. I am still not a fan of to large ears, but I thought that around 8 gauge or a little bigger looked cute. I never actually intended to stretch my earlobes, but it happened.
Well first, back a few weeks, I was having trouble changing my nose stud, got scared and took my ear stud out of my ear and shoved it in my ear. I had to put something in my ear when I went to get help changing my jewelry, so I stuck in an 18-gauge nose screw in my left ear.
After I got my nose fixed up, I came home and switched my 18-gauge nose screw in my ear back to the 20-gauge earring.
Fast-forward a few weeks to last night and I took my ear studs out again to clean them and I was grossed out. There was yellow puss and scabs and soap that I never got cleaned off all dried on my ear and when I took the stud out on the stud was matching yellow puss and dried soap.
I cleaned off my ears and made sure they were nice and clean and put back in the studs and went on with my business. It was about an hour later and I tried to turn the stud to make sure they were ok and I could not get it to turn until I put water on it. I know it was not because my ear was tight but because the stud was extremely hard to clean and got Dial dried on it.
I wanted to go out to the store and get a pair of 18 gauge CBR rings to put in it, but I knew nothing was open, so I looked at everything I had. I found a few nose screws and tried to put them in. I could not get the screw to match up with my ear and twist in. The screw part was to small to turn and I gave up trying. I started to look at what else I had. The smallest thing I could find was a few 16 gauges Monroe studs and a few 16 gauges CBR rings.
I was a little nervous about trying to stretch from a 20 gauge to a 16 gauge, but when I put the 18 gauge it slipped in my left ear without any trouble what so ever, so I decided to try it and see what would happen.
I got some Q-tips, Bactine, and my Jewelry and set it up on a clean washrag. I made sure my hands were clean with Anti-Bacterial soap and got my little shop set up. I had a mirror directly in front of me so I could see what I was doing. I poured some Bactine in the lid of the bottle and put all the jewelry in to soak. I got a Q-tip and worked my left ear until I could turn the jewelry.
After the jewelry soaked for a few minutes (it was new jewelry, that is why I did not need to boil it or anything), I carefully took out my 20-gauge stud in my left ear. I put the stud in the Bactine soak and massaged my ear with the wet Q-tip.
First, I tried the 16-gauge CBR ring, but I had trouble lining it up and getting it pushed all the way in, because my hole was used to being straight I guess. I put the CBR back in the soak and picked up the back of the 16 gauge Monroe and lined it up and shoved it right in. I did not feel any pain but a small pushing and pressure and it popped right in. I had stuck it in backwards, so I left it in for about a minute, and then pulled it back out. I got out the 16-gauge CBR and carefully and slowly pushed it in. I had to push a little harder after it was halfway and I heard a pop as it exited the back and it finally slid in. I did not feel any pain at all just a little pressure.
The right ear went as good as the first, but I had to push a little harder to get it through the back and wiggle it around a little, but it managed to get through. Again, I felt no pain.
I was satisfied with my new ears, they looked cute and the balls were easy to get on and I went to bed happy. They felt a hundred times better this morning when I got up and was easy to clean. My boyfriend and Jake kept making comments that they liked them, but thought 14 gauge would look better, because all my helixes were 14 gauges.
My boyfriend and Jake left to go fishing about an hour ago and I got all my stuff together and decided to give it a try shoving in the 14 gauge. I had just ordered some new 14 gauge CBR and Labret studs, so I just soaked them in the Bactine like before.
This time, I put the Labret stud in first to make sure it would fit, before I even tried the CBR on either side. The left side went in a lot smoother than the right side, but both sides went pretty good. I had to put more pressure on them than I did yesterday and it took a lot of wiggling and patience, but after a few minutes on each ear they were in.
It is a tight fit on both sides and it is a little difficult to turn the CBR, but I think that it will get easier in time. The guys were right; they look a lot better. I never intended to stretch my ears, but now that I started, I might go down to an 8 or 10 gauge; I am not sure. If I do go down more, I will wait a month or so, so these ones get more used to bigger holes and a CBR instead of a straight stud.
I went from a 20 to a 14 gauge in two nights and I love it, if anyone has any questions feel free to email me. I know that stretching yourself without proper equipment can be dangerous and once I get to bigger gauges if I do decide to stretch more, I will have help from a professional.
Well, good luck and happy piercing!