Hmmm, I'm not quite sure how to start out. I guess I'll start with why I decided to stretch my earlobes.
At A Glance Author girl anachronism Contact girl anachronism@bme.anon When N/A Artist Myself Studio At home, mainly A few years ago, when I was about 14, i started to self-harm. I, like many others,quickly became addicted to this rather unhealthy habit. So earlier this year, I decided that rather than harm my body in a negative way, I was still going to allow myself the pain, but use it in a more constructive way.
I've always loved the look of stretched lobes, and, being a relatively poor student, decided that it was probably cheaper, and easier, than getting another piercing.
After doing quite a bit of research (how I discovered bme)I found some plastic wire, that is usually used with whipper-snippers. It would have been about one or two millimetres. After cutting off two small lengths, and boiling them in water, I shoved them through my normal ear piercings, with the aid of Savlon Antiseptic cream. They bled a little, and hurt a lot, but it didn't bother me much.
One day, I was out with friends, and we wandered into a jewellery shop. I saw they had 4 mm acrylic tapers. I excitedly bought a pair, and as soon as I got home, had a shower and put he tapers in. They were claws, so I only put the tapers in to the curved part. I wasn't stupid enough to go straight from about 1 mm to 4.
Unfortunately, though, both ears got infected, with whitish green pus from each ear. They were both swollen, and extremely painful. I decided to leave the stretching for awhile.
After i was sure my ears were completely healed (about a month later) I decided to try the tapers again. They went in with relative ease, although, again, only up to the curve of the claw. About two or three days later, though, after someone had touched my ear, I discovered I could push it in all the way to 4mm. I was delighted with this development, and couldn't wait to get bigger tapers.
About a week later, i was in the city with my sister. We were in a reputable piercing shop, and saw they had 6mm tapers. I bought a blue pair, and put them through my lobes while i was still with my sister, in a bathroom in the city, once I'd first alcohol swabbed both the tapers and my ears. In hindsight, this probably wasn't the safest, most sterile thing to do, but I'm an impatient type.
About three weeks later, I was again out with my sister. We were in a different piercing shop, and I saw they had 8mm tapers. As I had quickly fallen in love with stretched lobes, and wanted to go bigger, I purchased a pair of purple acrylics. These tapers were my favourite colour, and they were bigger!
I, unfortunately, couldn't put the tapers in as soon as I wanted, as I was spending the weekend with my father, who disapproves of any body mods other than regular ear piercings.
As soon as I got home ,though, they went straight in. This was, by far the most painful stretch, apart from the infection. They looked gorgeous, though, and I was very happy with them.
I then bought a pair of picture plugs, red stars on a black background. These were quite difficult to put in, because of the flared ends.
However, not long after I bought my picture plugs, I got very sick, and was stuck in hospital for three days in agony, with the doctors not knowing what was wrong with me. It turned out I had a gangrenous appendix, which didn't show up on ultrasounds as my appendix was "hidden"( I'm still not quite sure what that means).I now have a 9 and a half centimetre scar on my belly, but that's going off-topic.
I had to take put my plugs for my operation and was amazed that, in about 9 days, my lobed had gone back almost to their pre-stretched size.
I began stretching again, and ye ears were back up to their 9mm in a week, as they were far easier to stretch this time.
I plan to going to maybe 11 or 12 mm once I have some money.
In conclusion, in case you can't tell, I absolutely love my stretched lobes. They make me feel unique, and I stand out in my school, which is something I've had trouble embracing, but finally have.
My stretching has, many times, stopped me from hurting myself, or hurting myself as severely. Any self-harmers who are trying to quit/hurt themselves less severely, and have an interest in body mods, I would definitely recommend trying this, or a similar, alternative. It's like self-medicating without using drugs or alcohol
And, be careful! Don't go too fast with your stretching, or else you WILL end up with lovely, swollen, painful ears, or tears and bleeding. These are definitely no fun.
I hope this has been interesting/helpful :)