I have always been enthralled with the body modification world. I, particularly, had a fascination with stretched earlobes. I began my stretching in the sixth grade, though I knew little when I began, I quickly absorbed lots of knowledge through many resources, including the advice of friends who had the modification.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When N/A Artist Self done. I began with a set of 18 gauge ear piercings. I had which I had gotten them done, sadly, at the infamous Claire's store at a nearby mall, before I knew it was a bad thing to do, when I was about eight. At the time of my first stretching, I had nonsensically decided that a pair of screw-ended, 14 gauge horseshoes would suit my fancy. Not too much bigger. I could jam them in there, right?
I came home that night with my new horseshoe jewelry and began desperately wedging them into my poor lobes. I look back on the experience now and feel moronic; of all jewelry! But regret does not change the past. I eventually got them in, and iced them for a bit, and though having gone through such stress, they were only sore for about a day, and the next day seemed perfectly fine. So I decided that I would stretch some more. But I had learned from my mistake the last time, and so I decided to buy a talon instead.
It had only been a day before I got my hands on some sleek black 12 gauge talons. I was very intrigued with them, and couldn't resist stretching them yet again. They went in with ease; I babied them until they healed, and decided that I might be done with stretching.
But obviously my story does not end there.
I then bought a pack of stainless steel jewelry, ranging from 8, to 6, and to 4. I had woken up one day and looked at my lobes; they looked so small. I wanted the real thing, the large holes I had been fascinated with in the first place. So when I came across the pack, in a price that suited my needs, I bought them. I awed at how big the 4 gauge jewelry looked [at the time...] and decided I would dare to go that big.
Over the next few months I stretched them; it was during the summer I had bought the larger jewelry, and by that fall, in the seventh grade, I had reached a 6 gauge. I was pretty proud of it, but I struggled with myself on whether or not I should stretch larger.
Finally, on a Friday night, I stretched my lobe to a 4 gauge. I lubed it up, and iced it before hand, since the jewelry had bigger intervals the bigger they got, and I was worried. I finally was able to get both of them in; I marveled at how my ears looked. I loved them. I felt accomplishment. But that Sunday, I went downstairs, and my mother, being the unobservant type, had just noticed my lobes. She talked to me for awhile; in the discussion we covered that I couldn't wear regular earrings, nor would I be suitable for more formal occasions.
I hadn't realized that.
And so I went back upstairs and looked in the mirror- they were big, like I wanted. But was it a good idea? After several hours, I decided against it. I down-gauged them to 12s that night and went to bed.
I left them that way for awhile. It wasn't until that summer and into eighth grade that I finally decided to stretch them again- and this time, after I went to 4 gauges, and staying there for awhile, I decided I didn't just want to stay there. Like the 12 gauges had awhile back, they seemed a lot smaller to me.
So I bought a curved taper 2 gauge and jewelry.
I was unaccustomed to using lube too much, for the second time around I found it easier and didn't use any. But the larger jewelry was indeed that- it was a bigger interval than I had encountered before, and so I decided on using lube, and lots.
After cleaning the ear and the jewelry, I used a non-allergenic lotion- though now, I think something more along the lines of KY would work better. I went to put it in, and surprisingly enough, I was able to pop it in effortlessly.
I sported the size for a few months, until about April. I decided I wanted a nice round 0 gauge. But after buying the jewelry, I found it impossible to put in, even with lots of lube. So one day, whilst visiting a friend, I had a conversation with her sister, who was training to be a piercing artist. I was excited, and asked her if she could stretch them for me. She agreed to it and, after much indecisiveness, I finally sat down and let her do it.
She got a clean taper and started cleaning up my ears, after putting on some rubber gloves. I could feel my stomach churning; I had never let anyone do anything like this to me before, save the Claire's experience. But I took in a deep breath, and on my exhale, I felt the taper go in.
It was pain, yes; but it was satisfying as soon as it was over. She did the other ear, and then handed me a mirror. What I saw truly overjoyed me- I finally had the size I would stick with.
To this day, I have 0 gauge lobes, and I am very satisfied with them. I know now, after collecting lots of information on the web, that there were things I did I really shouldn't- I am very thankful they healed right, and that nothing went wrong.
A few tips:
• If in doubt, WAIT. Never do anything rash with your lobes. If you fuck them up, you can't go back.
• Clean, clean, clean. Infections are a nasty thing- so make sure you do sea salt soaks 2-4 times whilst your lobes are healing.
• I can't say it enough- be PATIENT. Like I said above, you can't go back. Blowouts and Cat-Butt are not pretty things.
• Get light jewelry. Heavy jewelry is a stress on your lobes!
• Once your lobes heal, take the jewelry out for a bit, and rub the lobes with vitamin E. This allows the lobes to relax, and for the blood to flow into them, which will help them thicken up for further stretching. The vitamin E also helps break down the scar tissue in them.
• Don't do them until you know what you're doing, forwards and backwards. You only get one body, treat it nicely.
• Consider your future before the mod- this goes with any piercing or tattoo. If you stretch your lobes to 2" inches before you're out of high school, you WILL have problems getting a job, and doors WILL close for you. Enough said.
• Generally, 2-0 gauge is the "point of no return" where you won't get completely healed lobes without the help of surgery. I have considered this and it is one of the main factors that I have not stretched further. I want to leave options open for myself in the future.
Good luck stretching!