8mm to 10mm: the final push.
At A Glance Author anonymous When A month ago Artist self-done Studio the bathroom Location Leeds, UK Here, in summary, is the experience of each stretch up to this point. They may not be the same for everyone; I think it depends on the time since the last stretch, the method you choose to stretch and the material of your jewellery. I didn't have success with PTFE tape, but lots of people do, so give it a go. The more gradual the better. For reference, I went from 9 year old unused gunned ears to 10mm in a little under 3 months. This is on the quick end of sensible; a couple of stretches should have been left longer, but most were fine and I've ended up with nice, even, smooth holes. You'll know if you're pushing your body too far or too fast. It's up to you whether you choose to listen to it or not. A quick point on sizing: if you're in the UK, check carefully that you either use US gauge sizes (00g, 3/4" etc. P.S. the metric system: what an invention) or millimetres. For example, many people will tell you that 00g is 10mm, it's not, it's 9.2mm, which believe me makes a big difference.
1.6mm: Titanium septum retainer, dead stretch from gunned: Popped in with a bit of a push, very light soreness.
2mm: Surgical Steel plug: Very easy, slid right in with no problems.
2.4mm: Black acrylic plug: flat sides and O ring grooves make this one a bit nippy, but no swelling or goo. Put me off acrylic jewellery.
3.2mm: Steel plug: Small blow out on right ear, downsized for a few days. Take two: inserted fairly easily with a short steel taper. Light soreness, some pus and a little blood.
4mm: Steel plug with short steel taper: Quite sore, some swelling, initial pain settled very quickly.
5mm: As above but with slightly more swelling and pus. Cleared up over a couple of days with regular care and cleaning. Throbbed for a few hours.
6mm: Wooden taper, Steel plug: Was going to leave it longer before doing this stretch as each step up was becoming more painful and taking longer to heal. Bought a mixed bag of 6mm and 10mm wooden tapers to wear as alternative jewellery. Steel was becoming a bit boring. Had 6mm taper about 3/4 through initially and throughout the day I tapped in gently a little further until it was nearly all the way through. I followed my 6mm plugs behind the end of the taper and to my surprise and delight, there was no sensation, so swelling, nothing. A really easy stretch.
8mm: Steel insertion pin, steel plug: Did this a bit too soon, took a long time, lots of swelling, intense pain behind the ears, took a good 3 days to settle. Quite difficult to sleep on. A fair bit of leakage.
So at this point I really didn't want a repeat of this experience. I resolved to leave the next (and last) stretch at least 3 weeks so I didn't damage my ear. Luckily, thanks to a good cleaning routine and massaging with tea tree oil and cocoa butter, I never had problems with smell, major tearing or scar tissue. After two weeks of the 8mm steel plugs, I started to wear 10mm wooden tapers with O rings behind to keep them in place. Every day I lubricated them with tea tree oil and got them in a tiny fraction further every time. Eventually, the ends were flat against my ear. I tried on a pair of 9.2mm (00g) wooden crescents I had bought from onetribe.nu and they fit nicely. Out of curiosity, I decided to see how far along my 10mm insertion pin I could get (I strongly recommend these in favour of short tapers with O rings – take my advice and wear them as jewellery and not to stretch with) and amazingly it slid right through with not even a pinch. I followed the taper through with some single-flare steel tunnels and felt totally elated. I had never worn tunnels before; I was keeping them as a kind of reward for getting to my target size of 10mm. I was so happy with the way they looked. It may feel great to overcome pain to reach the next size up, but it feels even better to have your body's consent. It's more like collaboration than forcing something on your body that will cause it pain.
Although I can understand how for some people, stretching their lobes becomes a way of life, without a final goal, I felt that 10mm was that perfect size for me. At the moment I have no other mods (although I have in past) and so I feel they are large enough to set me apart, but small enough not to appear aggressively different. I'm a big advocate of subtlety and forward-thought when it comes to body modification, I think that you can tell when a person has looked at the bigger picture, both spiritually and aesthetically, less almost always being more. I plan on wearing wooden plugs when my lobes are fully healed; omericaorganics.com is a great site for these. I think they look great and are really healthy for long term wear. I couple of pairs of Kaos for sleeping and showering are also on the wish list.
As far as the future goes, I plan on amassing a big fat collection of jewellery for my lobes. A cheeky septum may also be in order; I love the fact that they can be hidden like a secret. I'm personally not so keen on the bull ring effect, but a little straight barbell would do the trick. I hope this experience is useful.