A few years ago, I decided to begin stretching my ears. I desperately wanted a lip piercing, but still being young, my parents refused. I decided that stretching my ear lobes was a milder way to go due to the fact that it happens gradually and I didn't think my parents would notice the progressively larger sizes if they happened over time. My parents agreed if I only went to a small size, but I figured they wouldn't notice if I slowly went larger.
At A Glance Author Gina Contact Gina@bme.anon When A week ago I started out with a 14 gauge earring which went in very easily and healed over night. I left those in for a while, then decided it was time to move up. I borrowed a few different sizes from a friend, so I was able to move from the 14 up to a 10 gauge, then an 8. I did this slowly allowing a lot of time between because at the start, I wasn't planning on making my gauges very large, so each was a separate decision.
After inserting the 8 gauge, I allowed a few weeks for the next size because the earrings can be expensive and none of my friends were willing to part with there larger gauges. When I finally got a pair of 6's, I realized that the larger you try to put in, the more difficult it becomes. I eventually got them in, and gave them extra time to heal because since I forced them in, they became slightly infected and I had to let them heal. I removed them for a while to move along the healing process, and after they were healed, I had to go back to a 8, then up to an 6 because they had closed slightly. I did this quickly because they had been stretched before and it was easy.
Moving up to larger sizes required a little extra work. I might have been having trouble because I have thick earlobes, but I found that going directly to the next size wasn't going to work. When I would attempt to insert them, they would bleed and no matter how hard I pushed just wouldn't go through. I decided that I needed to stretch them slower, and I also was having difficultly inserting a taper which my friend recommended I try, but it wasn't working for me. I solved the problem by wrapping small pieces of electrical tape around the smaller size earring, and then adding layers of tape until the next size went in easily. If you are going to try this DO NOT use any other tape then electric tape. I made this mistake by using a paper tape, which you can probably tell is not a good idea, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Paper tape gets wet and never dries inside your ear so they became infected very quickly. I realized my mistake, and once I changed it to the right tape, they were fine. Making them larger became addictive, because I would reach a size where I told myself I was going to stop because of all the aggravation, but as soon as they healed, I was thinking of going to the next size.
I made sure they didn't get infected again my keeping them clean and letting them heal properly. I wouldn't recommend moving too fast between sizes because if they aren't healed, it will just lead to infection.
Ultimately, I reached a size 0. I had my ears stretched to this size for over a year, and one of my concerns was that they wouldn't close properly if I wanted to remove them. I decided one day that I would take them out for a while to see if they closed because I was tired of them and wanted to be able to wear regular earrings again. I removed them, and within a week and a half, they were completely closed and down to a normal piercing hole. I was very surprised that they closed so nicely, and I recommend that if you ever want them to close up to not go any larger than a size 0.
I would definitely do it again now that I know they will close if I don't stretch them too large, and I am considering redoing them because I miss them! It is a time consuming modification, but well worth it in the end. It is also a very socially acceptable form of body modification, because since it is in your ears, people such as employers rarely have an issue with wearing them on the job. I would strongly recommend this as a first attempt at modification because it's not a new hole and is not a strong of a commitment as other piercing as it happens gradually over time and you can stop whenever you'd like.