Let me start this story off with a little information about myself prior to the gauging process: I had always thought body modification is one of the purest, most beautiful forms of self expression. This being said, I'd always mess around with super small gauge piercings, i.e. 18 gauge lip rings and earring stud upper lip piercings, eyebrow rings that lasted for 2 days- all in my younger days, of course.
At A Glance Author Kelly V. Contact supkellyv@comcast.net When N/A If we're going to start off appropriately, we'd have to start off when I was 6 years old. Getting my ear pierced with an ear gun isn't the fondest (or proud) of my piercing memories, but hey, I was 6! Let's skip forward a few years..I let those close up, like the idiot child I was, and BEGGED for my mother to bring me to get my studs redone when I was 10 years old. So we did the whole 'ear gun' experience again, and it was nothing. Absolutely nothing. And as soon as we got a Piercing Pagoda in my mall, and I saw the various sizes of earrings, I KNEW I wanted to go bigger.
This leads us to 7th/8th grade- ah, the wonders of junior high. While most 13 year-olds are hanging out with their friends at the mall, or pretending they go to the local high school in order to impress the older kids, I was absolutely FASCINATED with alternative culture. (And this leads into my 'rebellious punk teenage' years, which we will not start to even begin to analyze, ha.)
And then AGAIN, back to the ear gun. Yes, that lovely giant stapler filled with semi-sharp ear posts. I was at a 14 gauge in my first holes, feeling like the bad ass I was at 15, and I wanted to get a send pair to accuate the the holes I had. Now I bet your asking yourself, how in the hell does this relate to ear stretching? How is your psuedo life story going to help me out with my virgin ears that I must stretch?
I will tell you how. Right after this period of time, I came across the holy grail of all that is intelligent in piercing, body modification, and tattoos- BMEzine itself. I realized that I could stretch my lobes even beyond my wildest dreams, and I instantly fell in love with the look of 3/4" plugs. Something about the jewelry size spoke to me- it was a subtle, yet firm message, and it really, REALLY made sense. I can't quite explain it in words, but those of you who are dying to gauge their ears know the feeling.
Now, this is where we can begin the 'horror stories', or as I call it, LIFE EXPERIENCE. I used a bellybutton ring to get to 14g, then decided to step it up a notch. I easily went through 12g, 10g, 8g- and then I had a problem 3 months into gauging. And I know, 6g? How pathetic is it to get caught at a 6 GAUGE? Well, when you're 15 and over-enthusiastic, you'd be suprised. My ear flamed, bleed, ached, and did just about every gross ear verb I can think of. That's when I realized that HEY, RUSHING ISN'T A GOOD IDEA.
This is the part where I preach INTENSELY about taking your time and letting your ears heal between stretching- because that skin IS delicate, it IS easily torn and it IS a little piece of your body you definately need to take care of.
So I took my sweet little time and slowly went from a 6g, to a 4g, to a 2g- that process took almost 6 months alone, then from 0g, 00g, 5/16", 3/8", 7/16", 1/2", 9/16", 5/8", 11/16th" to 3/4" has taken me WELL over a year.
It's taken me roughly 2 and half years to get to my goal. It was worth every flinch, every penny I spent on sterile jewelry, worth every weird stare at my inflamed ears...
And the result? Beautiful, scar free ears. They're flexible, healthy, clean, and wonderful.
Taking your time with these things is the only way you'll really be able to take care of and enjoy your stretching for years to come- plus, it's easier to down size when you do it the right way, if you decide that the desk job is the life you really want.
And yes, of course I've had my problems. I've had the near blow-outs, the especially painful gauging, and the bogus piercers who me that lots of bleeding is normal.
I've never used an artist- but I strongly suggest that once you get passed 1/2", get a professional to use sterilized, 100% safe jewelry, just to make the healing process THAT much more easy for you.
So good luck, and hopefully you've taken this small amount of information to heart- because bad experiences with such a simple, and fulfilling body mod such as ear stretching is something that really shouldn't exist in a world of information, warnings and careful advice.